Ambiguous Utopias in Le Guin’s The Dispossessed Anonymous College

Societies attempt to create a world which is beneficial for all, in which all individuals are happy and content. A world like this, however, is hard to attain: People have various conceptions of how a perfect world operates, and how to achieve a society that makes every individual satisfied. This type of world is called a utopia, defined as an imaginary state in which everything is perfect. Contrarily, a dystopia is a world in which the society is unfavourable to all. In such a world, people are oppressed and controlled blindly. In Le Guin’s novel The Dispossessed, readers are introduced to two very different worlds: Anarres and Urras. Both worlds contradict each other greatly: Anarres is a world in which governed by no one in particular. Rather, it is an anarchist society in which everyone is considered an equal, without ruling or government. Urras is opposite: They are inhabited by people who seek power, wealth, and reputation. This makes it seem as if Anares is the utopian world, a place where people share and are liberated. However, this novel shows that is not the case. In fact, it shows that there can be no true utopia, because a utopian world depends on a person’s conception of a utopian world, and with human nature...