Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin

This book was one of my favorite pieces we have read in this class. It sort of reminds me of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, what with the strange-looking aliens and their seemingly infinite knowledge and peculiar plot line and all.  My favorite quote from the book is "... I am living in a nightmare, from which from time to time I wake in sleep" (38).

The aspects of this book that most strike me are: 1) the transformation of the character of Haber throughout and 2) the contradicting nature of George Orr's character.

When we first meet Haber, he is just a doctor with a small practice and a desire to have an office with a view. He gets an "awful chill at the pit of his chest" when he realizes what George Orr can truly do with his dreams (24). He seems to be the vulnerable one at this point, being introduced to a whole new scary concept and, by extension, world. The next time he and Orr meet, after he has had a chance to collect himself and think through what had happened, he begins looking at Orr as "a born victim" and he is "bay-maned, huge, boom[ing] out, 'Good afternoon!'" which makes him seem like the intimidating one (28). Orr is now in the vulnerable position and admits to feeling helpless when sleeping in Haber's presence. Haber's newfound awareness of Orr's "condition" changes him; he feeds off Orr and his power and Orr feels responsible for the way in which Haber now seems power-hungry and uncaring or only morally conscious in the realm of the social commonwealth rather than the individual. George insists that Haber is not an inherently bad man, but "it's the chance of power that [his] dreams give him that twist him around. He keeps acting a part, and this gives him such an awfully big part to play... He wants to improve life for humanity. Is that wrong?"(75).

It's strange how George is still sticking up for Haber, even after he has been taking advantage of him and completely disregarding his goals for his therapy sessions. Yet Haber and others in the book feed off of George. Lelache eventually compares him to a block of wood, he is so sturdy even though he is going through so much chaos; to me it seems as if he is the strongest person in the book, even stronger than Haber who is described as a giant toward the end. Haber wants to help the general wellness of the world and make society better or perfect, but he us using George to do this rather than his own skills. George is the powerful one here despite his being called "girlish" and "victim".

For me this relates to the theme of after dark because it is generally thought that things can happen at night that make us victims. Night is the space in which burglaries, robberies, and crime happen, but since Orr creates a new world with his dreams, he has a lot of control in the realm of the nighttime, whether he wants it or not. He proves everybody wrong who initially pinpoints him as a victim. Haber seems to become the victim of power hunger and it is infinite--he will never reach a point in which he is satisfied with how he has changed the world. In the end of the book, Orr seems content, whereas Haber is obviously not satisfied while in the insane asylum.

I hope these ramblings make sense, but that is part of what I wanted to do with this blog. Rambling helps me to sort out my thoughts!


Here is a comparison between the two aliens that reminded me of each other (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Lathe of Heaven) in their film adaptations!

 Lathe of Heaven

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
 

Other moments of interest:
  • Haber as an onion/no center--p.81 
  • Haber's collective morality, just no morality for individuals--p. 83
  • The nature of Night by Victor Hugo (the only place in the novel we really see explicit comment on the nighttime itself and it is by a different author)--pg. 89
  • Lelache's new image of Orr; he is like a block of wood. He starts out weak but ends up looking very strong.--p. 96
  • Lelache-manly, Orr-girly (earlier when Haber is describing him).--p. 101
  • "Lelache" means The Coward--p. 103 
  • Lelache's conclusion about Orr's condition (my preferred conclusion): "you don't suppose you'd be allowed to do anything you weren't supposed to do" --p. 107
  • Haber protecting his machine but not a care for Orr. 124 role reversal Haber weak Orr powerful--p.121
  • Haber would lead his country out of the mess--p. 125
  • Ourr had no character--p. 130
  • Haber's more vast power and determination to cure the world--p. 131
  • Romans+Coliseum, Pantheon--p. 134-136  
  • Haber says why are you so afraid of yourself George? His philosophy is backward "It's not how you get there, but where you get that counts."--p. 139
  • Orr has no social conscience.... uses his 'power' as a mask! moral jellyfish.--p. 147

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