One of the best things this novel does is create a slight disconnect between the reality in the book and the reality that we live every day. Although the people of Earth are mentioned in the book as Terrans, it is very clear that Urras and Anarres are most certainly not Earth.
There are many similarities between Earth and Urras. A-io, the politically strongest, is a democracy built entirely on capitalism, and has existed as such for at least 800 years. It could easily be compared to the United States of America, which is obviously what Le Guin was going for, although it is a highly dramatized and over exaggerated version of the USA. The wealthy are incredibly wealthy, the poor are incredibly poor, and the classes rarely mingle or intertwine. It is so separate that Shevek doesn’t meet the poor until the 9th chapter, where all hell breaks loose.
Thu is another country, one that in the 1970’s was analogous to Russia, but in today’s world fits a more accurate description of China. When it is described in the third and fifth chapter, it appears to be a socialist society with an overarching dictatorship that controls its people using censorship and harsh capital punishment.
There are other smaller countries, such as Benbili, but these countries all take the background to the two main ones, who use these smaller countries as a battleground in their never ending war. This is obviously a commentary on the Cold War, with these countries being a metaphor for the Third World countries, and how this “new” form of war that was commonplace during the cold war. The first and second world superpowers would go out and fight for their ideas in the third world countries, not to necessarily take it over, but more to prevent the other superpower from spreading their cancerous ideas.
Anarres is presented as a safe haven, where there is no government, no people grasping for power, no poor, no rich. The only people there are humans, in their most raw form. All the people have there are other people, and they use this gift to great effect. Everyone is a social being, who finds that hard work satisfies them, and finds pleasure in what they do. This would be an ideal society, except for the fact that they do not have many of the luxuries that even the poor on Urras have, such as unlimited drinking water, property of any kind, or enough food to go around during times of drought.
The first major social critique comes in chapter 6 in the form of the character Bedap, who realizes in their Odonian society where no one has power, there is actually power in the masses. This power takes the form of social pressure, where the people of Anarres are not willing to change or evolve, and shun anyone that wants to. This is seen in the way that Shevek’s physics work, which is instrumental and important to advance space flight and communications, is not published because there is no actual need for it. In this event we can also see that there actually are individuals with power, such as Sabul, who if they wished it, could simply say no, and nothing would happen. The defense force of Anares is also similar in this matter, as they chose what left and came into the planet, which is in itself a very powerful responsibility. If a single individual decides something that may be small to them, nobody else is going to go over their head and say yes because that would be considered grabbing at power, which their society shuns. Even in a society where there is theoretically no authority, there is always a roadblock in the form of powered individuals or masses.
In chapter 9, Shevek finally decides that he is done being used by the A-Io government, and wants to go on his own and do what he came to do: try and open up communications between Urras and Anarres, as well as help the Urrasians understand the benefits of Odonian culture and help them adopt it. He leaves the university and within 3 days is pretty much leading a peaceful revolution with the masses of the poor in the main city of the A-Io. It is here where we see what is supposed to be the massive difference between the A-Io and the US. After Shevek finishes his speech, army helicopters come and start to shoot en masse at their own people. The disconnect between poor and rich in this society is so great that the rich see the poor only as a vessel to increase their own massive wealth. To the wealthy, if the poor misbehave, simply killing them is a better option than putting up with them. This concept is alluded to in the first chapter, when the doctor on the ship throws Shevek’s pajamas in the trash. When asked by Shevek about this, the doctor simply says, “Oh, those are cheap pajamas, service issue – wear ‘em and throw ‘em away, it costs less than cleaning.” This one sentence is the perfect metaphor for what happens in the ninth chapter: in the eyes of the rich and powerful, the poor common folk are all cheap and replaceable, if they break or no longer become useful, they can simply be thrown away and replaced with new ones. This is a massive critique on the army and war itself, as well as those who grasp for power and how the life of one person is not worth the lives of others.
I think the main point of what we have read so far is that guns, bombs and missiles are not the most potent weapons, the people that wield them are. It is simply power, and power hungry individuals, who are the ones that mess up society. Those who only care about what they can do to further themselves and their clench on those around them. In a capitalist society, becoming more powerful is encouraged more than any other political philosophies, and because of this it is these capitalist societies that commit the greatest atrocities. Germany in fiscal disperse turned to the person who took the blame off of themselves and put it on someone else, promising economic prosperity in the process, and gaining the support of millions for a terrible cause. The other countries all wanted to maintain their own power at the same time, and killed millions of people in the process, creating a weapon that could wipe out hundreds of thousands in the span of seconds. Then after this horrific world war, the big countries did their best not to fight each other, but instead used other smaller countries as tiny battlefields in their 50 year non-war. The statement that one country was a democratic-republic or a communist society was seen as a victory for these countries that could no longer simply take them over without severe consequences. This book says that with power comes corruption, and with corruption comes societal downfall. History so far is inclined to agree with Leguin on this matter.