47 pages • 1 hour read
The Lathe Of Heaven
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Character Analysis
George Orr
George Orr is the protagonist of The Lathe of Heaven. George is an ordinary person who, when evaluated with any scientific device or standard unit of measure, invariably comes out right in the middle: George is average in every respect. As such, he initially makes little impact on the other characters. Haber perceives him an innocuous drug user. Heather thinks of him as someone she could squish beneath her shoe, without him making noise or giving resistance. The longer people associate with George, however, the more remarkable he seems. Within two sessions, Haber realizes that George possesses the gift of effective dreaming, making him unique among all humanity. Eventually, Heather recognizes George as a person of great integrity, the “strongest person” she has ever known, someone who refuses to be dissuaded from acknowledging truths that he recognizes.
Le Guin reveals more about George to the reader as the narrative progresses. George explains to Heather that his rare effective dreams change the world backward in time seamlessly, something only the dreamer and those with him in the moment can sense. He had been at peace with this power until April 1998, four years prior to the chronological setting of the story. George explains to Heather that the world ended. As George lay dying of radiation sickness, he dreamed that the war had not happened. Though the lives of billions were restored, he comes to live in fear of the potential of his gift, using substances to prevent his dreams until he is legally forced to meet with a psychiatrist.
George is named for George Orwell, the author of the speculative novel 1984, in which an average citizen—much like George Orr—must deal with the draconian rule of a police state. Le Guin is said to have referred to her protagonist as “George Either-Or,” implying that George is an image of the pivotal nature of humanity, which can swing in a productive or regressive direction. Le Guin also notes the similarity between George Orr’s name and her home state, Oregon, implying that he embodies the ambiance and potential of the site where both the destruction and reclamation of human society take place.
Dr. William Haber
Though he introduces himself to George as “Bill,” throughout the narrative, George’s psychiatrist is referred to simply as Haber. He is a dream specialist, treating only those referred to him because dreams interfere with their waking state. Haber has invented a machine he calls the Augmentor, which allows him to introduce a variety of brain waves through EEG contacts into the sleeping brain of his clients. He is enthusiastic about this experimental device primarily because it speeds up the treatment time that allows him to “cure” his patients quickly.
Haber is a large, hairy, garrulous man who laughs too loudly and artificially tries to ingratiate himself to others. He pretends to be open to interest and investigation from people in positions of authority, though he truly resents them. He is the consummate loner, isolating himself from other people as much as he can, apart from keeping a few people he needs to do his bidding. He builds a career where he works primarily at night, virtually alone. His personal life is also isolated. At one point, George voices the opinion that Haber does not believe other people are real, suggesting a solipsistic worldview that may potentially drive his decisions as he goes about changing the world. Through Haber, Le Guin associates utilitarianism to an egotistical solipsism, suggesting that Haber’s belief that he can determine “the greatest good” requires him to believe that others are somehow less real than himself.
Haber is tremendously ambitious and driven. When he discovers George’s ability to change things with his dreams, he wastes no time in placing George into effective sleep and telling him what to dream. Though Haber repeatedly says he means well and he has the welfare of other human beings at the forefront of his mind, he swiftly improves his own career and stature by manipulating George into elevating him to the status of a preeminent researcher. While Haber constantly explains his intentions in ways that make them sound altruistic and honorable, he always reasons to a point and remains unwilling to take responsibility for any of the dreams he instills in George that have unintended consequences. Haber’s ultimate goal is to become an effective dreamer himself, which would allow him to have ultimate power to recreate the world according to his wishes.
Heather LeLache Andrews
When she is initially introduced in the narrative, Heather is a no-nonsense attorney working for the government and representing lay citizens. She likens herself to a black widow spider who is assertive, no-nonsense, and definitive. Heather’s husband died in a conflict in the Middle East. She is interested in George and desires to help him despite the fact that he has little to support the strange complaint he brings to her. Heather takes his case largely because she recognizes Haber is performing experimental treatments using a machine on his patients that has never been tested and approved.
Over the course of the narrative, Heather’s character develops because George dreams her in and out of existence. On one occasion, Haber instructs George to settle the nation’s racial problems, and George responds by turning everyone gray, which erases some people like Heather, suggesting that her experiences as a Black woman are intrinsic to who she is. When George restores her, she is a much meeker, more affectionate person who is in fact George’s wife. In the denouement of the storyline, in which George confronts Haber once he has gained the power to dream effectively, Heather is once again dreamed out of existence. When she returns a final time, she is the original strong-willed Heather, attracted to George, but with no memory of their prior time together.
Heather is also a control character in that she has a moment in which she possesses all the power that Haber has when he manipulates George. When George is before her in a hypnotic trance and she must suggest what he is to dream, she is near panic when she realizes the power at her disposal. The author contrasts her feelings and reactions against those of Haber, as Heather does not opt to use the power for her own personal desires.
The Aldebaranian Aliens
When they are first introduced, the aliens are perceived as menaces, attacking human stations on the moon, then mounting a full-scale attack on Earth against which human defenses appear useless. Once the aliens arrive in person, having been transformed by George’s dreams of them, they are nine-foot-tall creatures who look like giant sea turtles with no faces. They have flippers instead of hands and speak from their left elbows. Their language skills are limited, and their voices are toneless. They tend to speak in platitudes, using human cliches.
Once it is determined that the aliens are harmless creatures and have come to Earth simply because they like being on the planet, George and other humans are able to interact with them and learn more about their natures. The author portrays them as embodying Taoism in their attitudes and actions. At one point, George tries to explain to Haber that the aliens are actually creatures from the dimension of time who have come to offer advice and friendship. George ends up relying upon the aliens to defeat Haber’s plan to become the only effective dreamer and change the world.
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By Ursula K. Le Guin
