The Word for World is Forest

It is very obvious when looking at the cover of this story, not even having to open the book, that Ursula K. Le Guin intended to make a very bold statement about humanity and the effect we have on the rest of the universe.

At first I was very lost when reading this book because Le Guin creates such a vivid new world and the process of understanding all the new, hybrid terms was daunting. Once I got the gist of her new idea of the universe, it became more apparent that Le Guin had no intention of just creating a new fantastic world for us to enjoy, but instead wanted to illuminate that humans have an incredible power to destroy beautiful living things without any regard.

I thought her most powerful message resided in the characters and how they were constructed. Davidson is very obviously representative of the worst, most evil traits of humanity and, as we see in the story, evil causes the most damage. Selver is a halfway point between good and evil. He also represents innocence spoiled by human interference and disregard. Lyubov represents and innocence and caring that humans can posses but is often thrown aside just as he is in the story.

"Lyubov will be here," Selver said. "And Davidson will be here. Both of them. Maybe after I die people will be as they were before I was born, and before you came. But I do not think they will."

This quote is one of the best in the book. It represents the effects that humans and a lack of respect can have and will forever have.