The Word for World is Forest

by

Ursula K. Le Guin

Mr. Lepennon Character Analysis

Mr. Lepennon is a Hainishman, which is a form of non-Terran (non-Earth-based) human. Along with Mr. Or, he is an emissary for the newly-formed League of Worlds and becomes an acquaintance of Raj Lyubov during his time on World 41, which he visits on Commander Yung’s ship. Lepennon has white skin, and he’s deeply “civilized” and clean-cut; the novella implies that this dignity is characteristic of the Hainish. Lepennon respects Lyubov’s anthropological research and is excited to learn more about the native Athsheans, which puts him at odds with the human colonists, who largely dislike the Athshean people. Indeed, human colonists like Davidson seem to distrust Lepennon and Or for their “humanoid” status. Lepennon is horrified to learn that the humans have enslaved the Athsheans, which demonstrates his empathy, though he doesn’t interfere directly with the events on World 41 and his interest seems to be largely scientific. Lepennon and Or decide to give the colony on World 41 an ansible to communicate directly with their government, which is a choice they make partly due to their distrust of the colonists. At one point, Lyubov directly asks Lepennon to convince the League of Worlds to help the Athsheans. While Lepennon doesn’t respond directly, the novella implies that he takes some action, as World 41 eventually loses its colony status. At the end of the novella, Selver gives Lyubov’s research to Lepennon, and Lepennon speaks with Selver about the Athsheans’ new capacity for violence, urging Selver not to let his people become killers. Like Lyubov, Lepennon is kind to the Athsheans, but his kindness only unsettles Selver.

Mr. Lepennon Quotes in The Word for World is Forest

The The Word for World is Forest quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Lepennon or refer to Mr. Lepennon. 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 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:

Lyubov sat and took it. Let the men from the ship see them all passing the blame around like a hot brick: all the better. The more dissension they showed, the likelier were these Emissaries to have them checked and watched over. And he was to blame; he had been wrong. To hell with my self-respect so long as the forest people get a chance, Lyubov thought, and so strong a sense of his own humiliation and self-sacrifice came over him that tears rose to his eyes.

Related Characters: Raj Lyubov (speaker), Selver Thele, Mr. Lepennon, Colonel Dongh, Mr. Or
Page Number: 87
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Eight Quotes

“Sometimes a god comes,” Selver said. “He brings a new way to do a thing, or a new thing to be done. A new kind of singing, or a new kind of death. He brings this across the bridge between the dream-time and the world-time. When he has done this, it is done. You cannot take things that exist in the world and try to drive them back into the dream, to hold them inside the dream with walls and pretenses. That is insanity. What is, is. There is no use pretending, now, that we do not know how to kill one another.”

Related Characters: Selver Thele (speaker), Don Davidson, Mr. Lepennon
Page Number: 188-189
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Word for World is Forest PDF

Mr. Lepennon Quotes in The Word for World is Forest

The The Word for World is Forest quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Lepennon or refer to Mr. Lepennon. 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 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:

Lyubov sat and took it. Let the men from the ship see them all passing the blame around like a hot brick: all the better. The more dissension they showed, the likelier were these Emissaries to have them checked and watched over. And he was to blame; he had been wrong. To hell with my self-respect so long as the forest people get a chance, Lyubov thought, and so strong a sense of his own humiliation and self-sacrifice came over him that tears rose to his eyes.

Related Characters: Raj Lyubov (speaker), Selver Thele, Mr. Lepennon, Colonel Dongh, Mr. Or
Page Number: 87
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Eight Quotes

“Sometimes a god comes,” Selver said. “He brings a new way to do a thing, or a new thing to be done. A new kind of singing, or a new kind of death. He brings this across the bridge between the dream-time and the world-time. When he has done this, it is done. You cannot take things that exist in the world and try to drive them back into the dream, to hold them inside the dream with walls and pretenses. That is insanity. What is, is. There is no use pretending, now, that we do not know how to kill one another.”

Related Characters: Selver Thele (speaker), Don Davidson, Mr. Lepennon
Page Number: 188-189
Explanation and Analysis: