How to Walk with My People: Ursula K. Le Guin’s Futuristic Frontier Mythology

Tow ard th e en d o f th e th ird n o v e lla in U r su la K. Le G u in ’s Fo u r W ay s to Forgiv en ess (1 9 9 5 ) co n flict is r eso lv e d o n c e th e h e r o h as lear n ed “‘[h ]ow t o w alk . . . . H ow to w alk w ith [h is] p e o p le ”’ (1 4 4 ). W h o are th o se p e o p le ? A r e th ey sim p ly t h e in h ab it an t s o f a scie n ce fiction w orld to o r em o te to h e o f real c o n ce r n t o us w orld lin gs? T o say so w ou ld su rely b e t o o sim p list ic, for, as Le G u in h as rem ark ed , “T h e fu tu re, in [scien ce] fictio n , is a m e t ap h o r ” (“ In tr o d u ct io n ” 159). A n d as Larry M cC affe r y h as co m p e llin gly ar gu ed , th e cap acit y o f c o n t e m ­ p o rary scie n ce fictio n is p r ecisely “to d efam iliar ize ou r scie n ce fiction liv es an d th er eb y fo r ce us t o t em p o rar ily in h ab it w orld s w h ose cogC o l o r p h o t o g r a p h by N ick K o u d is ( w w w . k o u d i s . c o m ) 2 5 6 W A L 3 3 ( 3 ) F A L L 1 9 9 8 n it iv e d isto r tio n s an d p o e t ic figu r ation s o f ou r ow n so cial r e lat io n s— as th ese are co n st r u ct e d an d alte r e d by ou r n ew t e ch n o lo gie s— m ak e u s su d d en ly see ou r w orld in sh arp er r elie f” (3 - 4 ). T h is p ossib ly im p lies t h at w h ere scie n ce fict io n ’s ge n r e ch ar act e r ist ics v io lat e se lf- e v id e n t n or m s o f p r o b ab ility an d fo r m al econ om y , its ch ar act e r s n e v e r t h e le ss act o u t sce n ar io s t h at t e ac h r ead ers w h at k in d s o f b e h av io r to e m u ­ late or sh u n . T h e r e is a lo t o f d id acticism in t h e w ritin gs o f U r su la K. Le G u in . T h u s it is w or th r em em b er in g t h at ev er sin ce t h e p u b lic at io n o f A lw ay s C o m in g H o m e in 1985, Le G u in h as h ab itu ally d e scr ib e d h e r ­ se lf as “a fe m in ist, a co n se r v at io n ist, an d a W est er n A m e r ic an , p a...