A Response to "Voices"

Voices had themes of resilience and resistance,these were themes I could appreciate and recognize. It was quite apparent that through this fantastical novel that Ursula K Le Guin was commenting on the oppressor and the oppressed. Similar to science fiction novels, such as The Hunger Games, there is a comment about corrupt government working within this novel. Fortunately, it becomes a tangible theme for students and adolescents because it is within the framework of the fantasy genre. In other words, put in a contemporary, realistic setting, some of these ideas or themes may not come across as easily to students. However, placed in an unknown or otherwise unimagined setting, students suddenly grasp the theme. 


I appreciated the idea that knowledge is power, which means knowledge is dangerous. The amount of control the Alds have just because they perceive something to be wrong is a frightening idea to explore with students. This was something that worked well with this novel and it is a theme I could potentially see myself using with adolescents. 


I was able to connect slightly to the female characters who were oppressed by the men in power in the novel. I could relate to Memer feeling the need to disguise her identity in fear that something unfavorable would happen should she choose not to. However, for the most part, this novel was extremely difficult to relate to my own life. 


Overall, I did not care for this book. As a newcomer to the fantasy genre (save Harry Potter) I was quite disappointed with my first encounter. I felt I did not understand a majority of the plot and I did not really find a point to it all. Yes, there are the themes I mentioned above. However, the plot was quite boring to me and it did not carry these themes well. After 341 pages, I was not really sure what I had just read. Although the names of the characters were interesting, I was unsure of how these characters truly related to one another. The character development was extremely weak in my opinion. Additionally, even after the government and the setting were explained, I was still confused about the motivations of the characters or why they were in the situations that they were in.