EDUCATION AS THE WAY TO “A WOMAN’S LIBERATION”: ONE OF URSULA LE GUIN’S FOUR WAYS TO FORGIVENESS

Abstract

In this paper we discussed Ursula Le Guin’s story “A Woman’s Liberation. In this science fiction story the author chronicles a slave society on a far-away planet in distant future. She describes the relationships between slaves and owners but also the position of women in such an unjust society in which female slaves are inferior to everyone, including male slaves. Since the aim of science fiction is to make us think about our present, the author draws parallels between this fictional slave society from the future and slavery on our planet from not so distant past. Le Guin deals with the ways one social class percieves the other and how their perceptions are similar to ours, as well as with the position of a woman in such a cruel society. The story ends with a union between two main characters, and the author concludes that the personal relationship between two people is at the core of change in the world around us. She teaches us that, in order to improve the society we live in, we should change the way we look at things, and the best way to achieve this is through learning, through education.