Irony of Anarres
The ironic thing about Anarres is that the society teachings are based on freedom, but they imprison the members of society with customs, with obligations to the brotherhood, with expectations of group effort. The Anarreti consider the rest of humanity to be in prison, while they are the only ones who are free, needless to say the irony that such a mindset holds. It is a place where individual thinking is not desirable; place where an individual mind like Shevek's wanting to bring humanities closer together is an outcast, alienated.
Irony of the ambiguity and the thin line between utopia and dystopia
The under title of the novel is "An Ambiguous Utopia." The reason for this ambiguity lies in the fact that the notion of Utopia isn't the same for everyone. When looked from the standpoint of material comfort, Anarres is far away from being a Utopia, it is a desert-like planet where growing life takes a large amount of effort. What makes Anarres a Utopia is the social structure groundwork. It is the society's customs and beliefs, which primarily focus on the brotherly bond between all the people and where the idea of materialism is frowned upon. On the other hand, Urras looks more like a place that is close to being a Utopia, but the social construction is foul and based on materialism, hate and egoism.
Sabul
Sabul is a figure from Anarres that doesn't represent values of it. His character is closer to that of someone from Urras, who is only looking for his individual gain and power. This goes to show that Anarres, a Utopia of humanity, isn't perfect and has its flaws, the same way that Urras isn't Hell with awful people, considering that a lot of them were ready to help Shevek and shared his views, more than he expected definitely.
