The Word for World is Forest

by

Ursula K. Le Guin

Coro Mena Character Analysis

Coro Mena is an elderly Athshean, Ebor Dendep’s brother, and a “Great Dreamer” who lives in the village of Cadast. He welcomes Selver to Cadast after the massacre at Smith Camp. When Coro Mena first meets Selver, he claims to have previously met him in dreams. Later, Selver reveals what happened at Smith Camp and the circumstances of the Athsheans’ enslavement, and Coro Mena is one of few Athsheans to understand both that he’s telling the truth and that the planet will never be the same as a result. Coro Mena tells Selver that Selver did what was necessary by killing the humans and freeing the slaves; but it was also the wrong thing to do, since it involved murder. Acting in his role as Great Dreamer, which involves interpreting dreams, Coro Mena pronounces that Selver is now a god unlike any other because he has experienced death. Coro Mena later walks Selver out of Cadast to begin his journey back to Central, and he tells Selver that Selver’s interactions with the humans will fundamentally change things for the Athsheans. Coro Mena cares deeply for Selver and appears clear-headed about the danger humans pose to Athshe.

Coro Mena Quotes in The Word for World is Forest

The The Word for World is Forest quotes below are all either spoken by Coro Mena or refer to Coro Mena. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Violence, War, and Colonization Theme Icon
).
Chapter Two Quotes

“Before this day the thing we had to do was the right thing to do; the way we had to go was the right way and led us home. Where is our home now? For you’ve done what you had to do, and it was not right. You have killed men. I saw them, five years ago, in the Lemgan Valley, where they came in a flying ship; I hid and watched the giants, six of them, and saw them speak, and look at rocks and plants, and cook food. They are men.”

Related Characters: Coro Mena (speaker), Don Davidson, Selver Thele, Thele
Page Number: 44-45
Explanation and Analysis:

For Ebor Dendep was a practical woman. When a Great Dreamer, her brother, told her that Selver was a god, a changer, a bridge between realities, she believed and acted. It was the Dreamer’s responsibility to be careful, to be certain that his judgment was true. Her responsibility was then to take that judgment and act upon it. He saw what must be done; she saw that it was done.

[…]

As most writing was in this Lodge-tongue, when headwomen sent fleet girls carrying messages, the letters went from Lodge to Lodge, and so were interpreted by the Dreamers to the Old Women, as were other documents, rumors, problems, myths, and dreams. But it was always the Old Women’s choice whether to believe or not.

Related Characters: Selver Thele, Coro Mena, Ebor Dendep
Page Number: 46-48
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Three Quotes

“A human society with an effective war-barrier! What’s the cost, Dr. Lyubov?”

“I’m not sure, Mr. Lepennon. Perhaps change. They’re a static, stable, uniform society. They have no history. Perfectly integrated, and wholly unprogressive. You might say that like the forest they live in, they’ve attained a climax state. But I don’t mean to imply that they’re incapable of adaptation.”

[…]

“Well, I wonder if they’re not proving their adaptability, now. By adapting their behavior to us. To the Earth Colony. For four years they’ve behaved to us as they do to one another. Despite the physical differences, they recognized us as members of their species, as men. However, we have not responded as members of their species should respond. We have ignored the responses, the rights and obligations of non-violence. We have killed, raped, dispersed, and enslaved the native humans, destroyed their communities, and cut down their forests. It wouldn’t be surprising if they’d decided that we are not human.”

Related Characters: Raj Lyubov (speaker), Mr. Lepennon (speaker), Selver Thele, Coro Mena
Page Number: 74-75
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Word for World is Forest PDF

Coro Mena Quotes in The Word for World is Forest

The The Word for World is Forest quotes below are all either spoken by Coro Mena or refer to Coro Mena. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Violence, War, and Colonization Theme Icon
).
Chapter Two Quotes

“Before this day the thing we had to do was the right thing to do; the way we had to go was the right way and led us home. Where is our home now? For you’ve done what you had to do, and it was not right. You have killed men. I saw them, five years ago, in the Lemgan Valley, where they came in a flying ship; I hid and watched the giants, six of them, and saw them speak, and look at rocks and plants, and cook food. They are men.”

Related Characters: Coro Mena (speaker), Don Davidson, Selver Thele, Thele
Page Number: 44-45
Explanation and Analysis:

For Ebor Dendep was a practical woman. When a Great Dreamer, her brother, told her that Selver was a god, a changer, a bridge between realities, she believed and acted. It was the Dreamer’s responsibility to be careful, to be certain that his judgment was true. Her responsibility was then to take that judgment and act upon it. He saw what must be done; she saw that it was done.

[…]

As most writing was in this Lodge-tongue, when headwomen sent fleet girls carrying messages, the letters went from Lodge to Lodge, and so were interpreted by the Dreamers to the Old Women, as were other documents, rumors, problems, myths, and dreams. But it was always the Old Women’s choice whether to believe or not.

Related Characters: Selver Thele, Coro Mena, Ebor Dendep
Page Number: 46-48
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Three Quotes

“A human society with an effective war-barrier! What’s the cost, Dr. Lyubov?”

“I’m not sure, Mr. Lepennon. Perhaps change. They’re a static, stable, uniform society. They have no history. Perfectly integrated, and wholly unprogressive. You might say that like the forest they live in, they’ve attained a climax state. But I don’t mean to imply that they’re incapable of adaptation.”

[…]

“Well, I wonder if they’re not proving their adaptability, now. By adapting their behavior to us. To the Earth Colony. For four years they’ve behaved to us as they do to one another. Despite the physical differences, they recognized us as members of their species, as men. However, we have not responded as members of their species should respond. We have ignored the responses, the rights and obligations of non-violence. We have killed, raped, dispersed, and enslaved the native humans, destroyed their communities, and cut down their forests. It wouldn’t be surprising if they’d decided that we are not human.”

Related Characters: Raj Lyubov (speaker), Mr. Lepennon (speaker), Selver Thele, Coro Mena
Page Number: 74-75
Explanation and Analysis: