[12 Alwars And Their Literary Works
Ainoha Sistek
Always Coming Home, the Kafka Award-winning novel published in 1985, marks a departure for one of the world's foremost science fiction and fantasy authors. Often criticized for having too many male protagonists in her novels, Ursula K. Le Guin answers with two particularly strong women in this complex and difficult novel. Like many of her other novels, Always Coming Home deals with the duality of everything (life, sex, love, faith, fear), the individual's need to belong, and the interconnection of life with the universe. Le Guin uses the strong female characters Stone Telling and Pandora to explore a culture that is different, yet very familiar, to modern American society. The novel does not have one single story line, but is made of a collection of stories, poems, maps, dictionaries, charts, and songs held together by the three parts of Stone Telling's narrative and Pandora's footnotes and journal entries. Critics raved over the beauty of the poetry and the innovative narrative style, but did voice concern over the novel's difficulty.
Le Guin, in numerous interviews, never claims to be a science fiction/fantasy writer, but simply a novelist whose publishers market her work as science fiction/fantasy. When asked what kind of prize she would like to win, either a National Book Award or a Hugo, Le Guin said Nobel. She does not see a marked difference between writing fiction and writing science fiction. Both her academic training, including graduate work in French and Italian Medieval literature, and her desire to be a "name," have helped Le Guin carve out a unique position for herself in the second half of the twentieth century. She is one of the first women to reach national and academic acclaim in the genre of science fiction/fantasy. Beginning with her early "fairy tales in space suits" in the 1950s, Le Guin has produced over eighty novels and collections of short stories, storming the walls of both traditional science fiction readership and "serious" literary scholarship in an attempt to bring her version of feminist utopian ideology to a wider audience. Her success has inspired and encouraged the careers of other women science fiction writers like Amber Zimmer Bradley, Anne Macaffery, and Sheri Tepper.
Always Coming Home marks a departure for Le Guin in its two female protagonists and its complex narrative structure. Although she routinely deals with issues of sexual equality, utopianism, and a hopeful outlook for the future, Le Guin's novel approaches these ideas through the use of sociology, anthropology, and folklore which forces her readers to explore and compare the cultures of the Kesh and Condors to their own.
The main part of the first narrative concerns the family's trip to Kastoha-na. Valiant wanted to take the therapeutic waters there and visit relatives. While there, Stone Telling sees Condor men for the first time. The importance for both Stone Telling and her mother, Willow, is overwhelming. The Condor men are not part of the Kesh; they are, as Valiant says, of no House. Yet they hold an irresistible fascination for both Stone Telling and Willow. Willow regains some of her lost self-esteem as she talks to the men, mentioning the name of her husband. Stone Telling feels excitement because these men are the same as her father, a father she has never met. Her spirit quest does not quiet her fears about the Valley and she and her family return home more agitated and upset than before.
Kills (also known as Abhao) arrives during one of the Kesh's public religious ceremonies. His arrival is marked by disbelief and discord among the Kesh. War is not an honorable activity for the Kesh; they think it is a foolish, youthful pastime. Yet the Condor men are warriors, obviously on the war path. Many of Stone Telling's neighbors comment on the spiritual sickness of adults who insist on acting like children. Stone Telling, on the other hand, is fascinated and sickened by her father's return. She is torn between the two parts of herself: part of her wants to acknowledge the Condor blood in her veins, but a larger part finds it frightening and disgusting. It is only after she gets to know her father that Stone Telling comes to a greater understanding of her parents.
Abhao's arrival has a dramatic effect on the household. Willow becomes a full person again, happy and industrious. Valiant remains silent in her own home, but does not like Abhao's behavior, which she considers to be laziness. Abhao refuses to work for he feels that would be beneath him. He has returned to the Valley after nine years to see the girl he had seduced, believing that she would have gotten on with her life. He is pleased and surprised that Willow has waited for him and does not understand her anger at his impending departure a few months later. Willow insists that she will not wait for him again; he must either choose to be with her or to be a warrior. He cannot be both.
Abhao chooses to obey his war orders, and Willow divorces him by putting his clothes outside the door. He storms about, and asks Stone Telling to wait for him. The first part of Stone Telling's narrative ends as her father marches away and her mother returns to her childhood name.
The second part of the narrative is filled with the grief of growing up and the heartbreak of lost love. Stone Telling is nine when her father left the Valley and she begins to search for a purpose in her life. At the same time, a new movement begins to grow in the Valley. The Warrior and Lamb Lodges gather members and train them in the ways of war. These lodges, spoken of as cults by most of the Kesh, differ from the rest of Keshian society in that they value killing and secrecy. The Kesh reject war and keep no secrets from each other.
Three people very close to Stone Telling become involved with the warriors. After her father leaves, her mother, now Towhee, joins the Lamb Lodge for warrior women, and Stone Telling's grandfather, part of the Warrior Lodge, moves back in. Valiant had never divorced him and now, feeling abandoned by her daughter, she has no choice but to take him back since she needs help around the house. The third is Stone Telling's first love, Spear. She has been very close to him and his sister, Cricket, for years and she "entered womanhood with that lion on" her mind. She feels she can never forgive the Warrior Lodge for taking Spear away from her and it is this feeling of abandonment that makes her decide to go with her father to the City of the Condor.
Five years after he left the Valley, Abhao returns. Stone Telling has fought with her grandmother and upon fleeing the house, she meets Abhao on the path outside their village. Their reunion is less than joyful since he does not recognize her, but she is determined to leave the Valley where she feels unwanted and unloved. Abhao agrees to take her with him and tries to teach her the ways of the Condor on their journey back to Sai. His language, terminology, and customs are foreign to Stone Telling, and she does not understand them. Her illiteracy is furthered by the fact that reading and writing are forbidden to Condor women. As their journey continues, Stone Telling finds a Condor feather and decides to keep her discovery a secret (she later learns that she could be put to death for touching the feather). She also becomes disgusted and disturbed by her father's casual attitude toward death and killing. She silently says heyas for the animals that the men kill on the journey.
Once they arrive in Sai, the City of the Condor, life becomes even more unbearable. She is not allowed to ride her horse or even walk; she must travel in a wagon like an invalid. The attitude of the other Condor women reflect that of the men. Stone Telling is considered an animal because her mother was an outsider, or hontik. She is given a certain amount of rank when Abhao presents her to the Condor and he acknowledges her existence. However, Stone Telling is shrouded in a literal and metaphorical veil. She must remain covered and out of sight during the rest of her days as a Condor woman. She cannot even go above ground. This part of the novel ends as Stone Telling contemplates her current existence.
Upon her return to the Valley, Stone Telling finds that much has changed. Her grandmother, Valiant, is dead and her mother has lost her mind. The Warrior and Lamb lodges have been disbanded and the unrepentant ones have been exiled from the Valley. Stone Telling becomes Woman Coming Home and learns to relish her life in the Valley. She also realizes that she does belong here with the Kesh and that she always did. Stone Telling does not marry again, but she does take in a gifted healer named Alder. She and Alder raise Ekwekwe, who becomes Shining, and enjoy happiness with their granddaughters. Thus, Stone Telling's narrative comes full circle: she is respected, accepted, and beloved.
Interspersed between Stone Telling's narrative and the last 150 pages of the novel are what Le Guin calls the artifacts of the Kesh. These songs, jokes, short stories, glossaries, recipes, and editor-ial comments make up the bulk of the novel and yet do not directly tie into the narrative. They reinforce and explain elements of Stone Telling's narrative, allowing for a greater understanding of the story.
Abhao is Stone Telling's father. He is a mighty Condor warrior, a general of great fame and ability. Unlike other Condor men, Abhao only marries Willow, not a Condor woman, and Stone Telling is his only child. This is a source of humiliation for him since his only child is not a son to carry on his family name or status. However, he seems to love his daughter and encourages her riding ability and intellect when they are both living in the Valley. He is happy when she promises to wait for him and delighted when she agrees to return to the Condor City with him.
Back with his own people, Abhao tries to turn his daughter into a Condor woman. This means she cannot go outside, ride horses, speak until spoken to, or control her life. He presents her to The Condor, who acknowledges her existence, which gives Stone Telling the status of being her father's daughter. Abhao puts all of his faith, trust, and obedience in The Condor even though he knows that The Condor's plans for conquest are unrealistic and fatal to his people. He sells his daughter into a loveless marriage and continues in his blind devotion and obedience to his leader. However, Abhao is redeemed when he defies all of his training, culture, and faith, allowing Stone Telling to escape Sai and return to the Kesh. Abhao never sees his daughter again.
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