Orr Else?

The Protagonists of LeGuin's "The Lathe of Heaven"

Author(s): Carl D. Malmgren
Source: Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts , 1998, Vol. 9, No. 4 (36), Special Issue: On
Psi Powers (1998), pp. 313-323
Published by: International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43308369

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of the Fantastic
in the Arts

This content downloaded from

128.114.34.22 on Thu, 14 Dec 2023 15:09:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Orr Else? The Protagonists of
LeGuin's The Lathe of Heaven

Carl D. Malmgren

In her essay "Science Fiction

and Mrs. Brown," the title of which acknowledges the line of
filiation between her fiction and that of Virginia Woolf, Ursula K.
Le Guin speaks of the centrality of character to her notion of science
fiction:

when science fiction uses its limitless range of symbol and meta-
phor novelistically, with the subject at the center, it can show us
who we are, and where we are, and what choices face us, with un-
surpassed clarity, and with a great and troubling beauty. (118)

This interest in character frequently causes her to use the alien en-
counter as the narrative dominant; many of her fictions are built on
the issues and tensions arising when a human Self confronts an alien
Other; this kind of encounter necessarily keeps "the subject at the
center," analyzing who we are, exploring what it means to be hu-
man.1
At the same time, Le Guin has also been interested in
larger social questions and in alternative forms of social organiza-
tion; indeed, in the aftermath of the turbulent '60s, she wrote a num-
ber of short fictions - e. g., "The Ones Who Walk Away from
Ornelas" (1973) and "The New Atlantis" (1975) - that deal philo-
sophically with the idea of utopia, the possibility of a perfect society.
But her most accomplished fictions of that period recognize and
build upon the interplay between Self and Society. The Dispos-
sessed (1974), she tells us in "Science Fiction and Mrs. Brown, " be-
gan with the image of a remarkable man, the physicist Shevek. Her
first attempt to capture him failed miserably, she says, because it di-
vorced him from his social context. This character insisted that he
was a "citizen of Utopia": "in the process of trying to find out who
and what Shevek was, I found out a great deal else, and thought as
hard as I was capable of thinking, about society, about my world,
and about myself" (111, 112). The Dispossessed, subtitled "An Am-

313

This content downloaded from

128.114.34.22 on Thu, 14 Dec 2023 15:09:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Orr Else?

biguous Utopia," is a celeb

the relation between Self a
Another novel from t
the relationship between u
abilities and the society i
(1971), has received scant
tral protagonist, George Or
tively." That is, his drea
change reality. Orr discove
dreams, and therefore brin
tory aunt. George Orr, as
realities into being. Le Gui
nary fantasy- " if only dr
ing fiction foregrounds som
calls attention to the fairy
himself to the "goose that
frequently draws attention
to avail himself of Orr's p
up with a magic word to p
repeats Orr's name three t
tence by Orr gives him a
Haber's schemes: "Before f
rections," the alien says in
summoned, in immediate-
Most important, the nov
nie formula articulated i
"The Fisherman and His W
help from the authorities,
in alternative realities. Wil
Orr' s "psychosis," discover
and tries to use it to rema
tured around the conflict between these two men, both
"world-builders" (Cummins 165) . The basis of that struggle, Haber
points out, is that the two men "don't see reality the same way" (82).
In simple terms, Haber and Orr represent two different kinds of sen-
sibilities, two different ways of looking at the world. Since the
stakes in the novel are high- Haber tries to use Orr's power to
real-ize utopia- LeGuin is clearly examining the extent to which
these two types of mental talents can bring about significant change.
Orr's special power and its inscription within a work that interro-

314

This content downloaded from

128.114.34.22 on Thu, 14 Dec 2023 15:09:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
In the Arts

gates the viability of t

more detailed analysis.
Orr's antagonist,
kind of scientific ap
down-to-earth. For him
lems (67-8). Not at all
tached knowledge, s
learning anything if i
"the greatest good for
and use, both as noun
name suggests a confla
particularly interested
bring about a better w
other to eliminate ov
says "To a better worl
"successful" effective dream in which the two of them have
"solved" the overpopulation problem by inventing a plague which
wiped out six billion people, among them Haber' s entire family
(73)! This dream highlights the awesome and awful nature of Orr's
power at the same time that it reveals the ruthlessness of Haber's
ambition. In the end that ambition consumes Haber, turning him
into a "Mad Scientist with an Infernal Machine" (47). In effect,
LeGuin uses Haber in order to critique a certain kind of applied sci-
ence and to expose the idea of incremental progress as a scientific
fiction.
The machine that Haber uses to control Orr's dreams is
called an Augmenter, and its function indicates the root cause of
Haber's incipient madness. Haber notes that the machine provides
"the brain a means of ie(f-stimulation" (34), and Haber uses it to
manipulate Orr's dreams in such a way as to magnify his own pow-
ers, to aggrandize his self. His entire project is powered by a
deep-seated insecurity rooted in solipsistic fear. In their "therapy"
sessions, Haber keeps repeating George's name, as if to remind
himself that there is somebody else there. Not really "sure that any-
one else exist[s]" (32), Haber can finally only see the projections of
his over-stimulated brain: "he can't see anything except his mind,"
Orr claims, "his ideas of what ought to be" (99). In this way, the
novel suggests that Haber's form of applied science is never disin-
terested, always self-serving, always unbalanced. In the end Haber
becomes his name, an empty "Will-I-Am," a naked "will to power"

315

This content downloaded from

128.114.34.22 on Thu, 14 Dec 2023 15:09:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Orr Eise?

that feeds on itself:

The quality of the will to p

ment is its cancellation. To
with each fulfillment, makin
ther one. The vaster the pow
more. As there was no visib
through Orr's dreams, so th
improve the world. (128)

Haber is twice likened

layers without a center. Or
regard; the passive, diffide
that the active, aggressive
for advice about how to d
Heather Lelache, is drawn
It was more than dignity. In
wood not carved .... Briefly
her most, of that insight, w
person she had ever known,
from the center. (95)

This groundedness invests

recognize evil and to try to
that Haber is not intrinsica
right to play God with m
know what you're doing. A
you're right and your mot
... be in touch." Haber can
touch" ( 150) .2 One critic
he does not recognize in th
to consider him a machine,
can exert pressure on the r
that the scientific approac
machine, a Subject into an
spects the existence and int
Orr rightly notes that
and points out that if ther
particularly objects to bein
48) . Haber counters that
possibility of, even den
Cummins puts it, "Orr wis
wishes to adjust the world t

316

This content downloaded from

128.114.34.22 on Thu, 14 Dec 2023 15:09:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
In the Arts

to change the world; h

improvement: he has
reason to believe that l
ent" (31). Haber daydr
naut, the city, the "w
escaping to a cabin in
the power to effect re
the other dreams of us
Orr's position is cle
world won't change or
hand, articulates a mor
he points out that life
that perfect stillness r
contrast, Orr seems t
"The world is," he insi
You have to be with
however, Orr realizes t
own hands, " in order
will, he enters the mae
to the control panel of
In a sense, then, th
humanist Orr triumph
artist" opposes and def
Orr's victory is, howev
of the novel is "radica
tered by the ruin of H
entirely account for t
LeGuin notes in an inte
gloomy and nightmari
One thing I've noticed ab
thing I really don't want
it in Portland. The Lat
among the saddest thin
hopeful, and they're bo
for this. (Cited in Cum

Part of the pessimism

change (itself perhaps a
ity prevalent in the ea
or nullifies the megalo
reacts; he starts nothi

317

This content downloaded from

128.114.34.22 on Thu, 14 Dec 2023 15:09:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Orr Else?

point, noting that Orr scor

cal and intelligence tests, H
"Mr. Either/Or": "Where
you're in the middle; whe
point. You cancel out so tho
(134). Haber's skewered r
sults does have a certain
within the novel's macropl
Actually, turning off
major act of negation and
first occurred four years e
dream effectively. At t
ine-ridden world careened i
tinction of the human race
Orr involuntarily made us
an effective dream that era
world to an uneasy equilibr
four years later, Orr shrink
Heather upbraids him: "Y
anything you weren't supp
think you are! There's noth
isn't supposed to happen.
nist here restates forcefull
results in passivity and ina
nothing that needs to be d
out).
But the 1998 dream and its aftermath are disturbing in
other ways. As Heather points out, Orr only did what had to be
done; the alternative was total extinction. But this heroic effort is
also the event that disrupted his equipoise and drove him to the
drug-taking which landed him in Dr. Haber's care in the first place:
"Four years ago this month, four years ago in April, something had
happened that had made him lose that balance altogether for a while"
(139). Clearly, the novel's attitude toward Orr's mental ability, like
Orr's own attitude toward it, is ambivalent. At first reading, the
novel seems to celebrate the power to dream. It consistently con-
trasts the bedrock sanity of the dreamer Orr with the incipient insan-
ity of the dream-user Haber. The narrative begins with an epigraph
from Chuang Tse about dreams, followed by one of Orr's dreams in
which the ocean, mother of life, is figured as the dream-state. Haber

318

This content downloaded from

128.114.34.22 on Thu, 14 Dec 2023 15:09:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
In the Arts

reminds Orr that hum

mans begin to halluci
that everything dream
form, of being, is the
have argued that in th
lems-pollution, over
Haber: "one source for restoration of balance is in dreams"
(Cummins 159) ; "this call to the powers of dream asserts that there
is no solution but in something which goes beyond rationality and in-
dividual will" (Klein 93).
Orr's comment about the play of form brings to mind an
equivalence that plays at the edge of the reader's consciousness: the
dreamer is the artist. The novel sometimes makes this reading ex-
plicit. Orr's true vocation lies in "design, the realization of proper
and fitting shape and form for things" (123). Orr's brain-pattern
when he dreams effectively is found to resemble that of artists when
they are caught up in the act of creation (63). In this context, certain
comments about Orr's power take on a metaliterary resonance: Orr
taunts Haber by suggesting that there might be other effective
dreamers out in the "real world," working their magic on the fabric
of reality (71); Haber from time to time asks Orr why he didn't
"dream up" something different. In fact, the nature of Orr's dreams
indicates the kind of artist he is. When asked to dream a world with-
out war, he invents the Aliens from Aldebaran and puts them on the
Moon. When asked to get rid of the Aliens, he dreams an Alien in-
vasion of Earth. Orr's imagination, and therefore his art, are
haunted by motifs drawn from science fiction. 3 This idea is rein-
forced by the similarity of his name to that of another 20th-century
artist, the man who dreamt up a distinguished anti-utopic SF novel,
George Orwell.
It should be noted, however, that the novel in which Orr
appears is itself not "pure" science fiction. Science fiction is
grounded in the discourse of science, and Orr's power is itself
counterscientific- it violates the norms of scientific possibility.
Bucknall notes that Orr "has a capacity that is magical rather than
scientific- his dreams come true. This is a proverbial expression
for realizing one's fondest wishes, and yet it is felt by him as a curse
rather than a blessing" (83). Elsewhere, I have defined science fan-
tasy as a hybridized subgenre depicting a world characterized by

319

This content downloaded from

128.114.34.22 on Thu, 14 Dec 2023 15:09:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Orr Else?

"the reversal of natural law or the contravention of the scientific

epistemology"; one form of science fantasy involves the introduc-
tion of a being with counternatural or supernatural powers into a
world otherwise conforming to the dictates of scientific discourse
and scientific necessity (Worlds Apart 139, 150) . Orr represents just
such a being, and he inhabits a regular (rule-centered) sci-
ence-fictional world. His power is extremely counterscientific; Orr
himself admits that what he is doing is totally impossible (35). Most
of Orr' s "magic," it should be noted, is "explained" by the novel's
discourse. Haber, for example, goes to some lengths to account for
effective dreaming in scientific terms (151).
Orr's power and his agonistic relation with Haber make
the novel a very good example of metaficdonal science fantasy. The
struggle between Haber and Orr acts out the conflict between sci-
ence and fantasy that structures this subgenre. Science fantasy is a
generic hybrid, conflating features from fantasy and science fiction,
negotiating the thematic space between them. In simple terms, we
can say that fantasy deals with the real and the unreal, science fiction
with the known and the unknown, and that science fantasy mediates
the two interests, bringing epistemologica! questions to bear on on-
tological issues. It asks, What is real, what unreal, and how do we
know this for sure? This is certainly the case with The Lathe of
Heaven. When George tells Heather that he dreamt their world into
existence back in 1998, he undermines the basic ontology of their
world: "This isn't real. This world isn't even probable," he con-
fesses to her. "We are all dead, and we spoiled the world before we
died. There is nothing left. Nothing but dreams" (105). Orr here
indicates the most disturbing fictional "reality": the fact that the real
world he and Heather share, so material for them, is itself a
"dream." Of course Orr is right- his world is unreal- and this
knowledge resonates metaliterarily in the reader's mind: to be only
a fiction, the function of someone's outrageous dream!4
For the most part Orr, acting out his name, evades the
full implications of his knowledge: he denies the reality of his dream
power (e.g., 80) because to accept it would lead to complete onto-
logical insecurity. But at several places the rents in the fabric of re-
ality make themselves felt to the characters. After not seeing Orr for
a couple of days, Heather finds herself going to the wrong office and
running into walls and realizes that Orr has been effectively dream-
ing again; it makes her wonder "what things are changed and

320

This content downloaded from

128.114.34.22 on Thu, 14 Dec 2023 15:09:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 In the Arts

whether anything's re
prey to vertiginous dou
dered, that because he
dream? What if it was?
manity cannot stomach
to readers of The Lathe
fictional reality underm
ity into insubstantialit
after a bad dream.
Susan Wood begins her interpretive summary of the novel as
follows: "George Orr ... loses his intrinsic balance when ... he be-
gins to create worlds. The novel's opening view of an overcrowded,
polluted, rainwashed Portland of April 2002 is depressingly plausi-
ble. Yet it is also Orr's creation" (199). It is also, of course, Le
Guin's creation. The novel calls into question both Orr's mental
abilities and Le Guin's; Orr' s power, Le Guin's power, the novel-
ist's-all are somehow fantastic, out of this world, and therefore
suspect. At one point Orr challenges Haber's basic project: "You're
trying to reach progressive, humanitarian goals with a tool that isn't
suited to the job" (86). Given that Haber represents the "rational,
progressive mind" (Wood 200), the discredited tool would seem to
be reason. Le Guin does link Haber's applied rationality with an un-
healthy will-to-power which daydreams heroics as it imposes its
nightmare vision on the world. But Orr's follow-up question indi-
cates he has a different tool in mind: "Who has humanitarian
dreams?" He thereby indicts dreaming as a will-less activity that
serves an illogic of its own. "Or(r) else" is exactly that- an empty
threat.
This exchange thus calls into question both types of men-
tal abilities. Insofar as these abilities devote themselves to world
construction- Utopian, fictional, or otherwise- they inevitably
serve a desire to play God. Fredric Jameson has said of Utopian lit-
erature that "its deepest vocation is to bring home . . . our constitu-
tional inability to imagine Utopia itself" (153). In its treatment of
Haber and Orr, The Lathe of Heaven acknowledges and highlights
that inability. Jameson goes on, however, to praise the Utopian
achievement of Le Guin's novel: "George Orr cannot dream Utopia;
yet in the very process of exploring the contradictions of that pro-
duction, the narrative gets written, and 'Utopia' is 'produced,' in the
very movement by which we are shown that an 'achieved' Utopia- a

321

This content downloaded from

128.114.34.22 on Thu, 14 Dec 2023 15:09:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Orr Else?

full representation- is a
novel suggests that Utopia
fantasy, something that n
into existence; Utopia is eit
gerous selfishness or mere

Notes

1. For a more systematic treatment of this kind of SF, see Malmgren,

"Self and Other in SF: Alien Encounters." For an analysis of Le Guin's
handling of this motif, see Hull, who claims that Le Guin "has incorpo-
rated wholesale the question of defining humanity as a dominant theme in
her work" (68).
2. Ironically, Haber diagnoses Orr as suffering from "fear of human
contact" (61). Cf. what Le Guin says about touch in "Science Fiction and
Mrs. Brown": "One by one we live, soul by soul. The person, the single per-
son. Community is the best we can hope for, and community for most peo-
ple means touch-, the touch of your hand against the other's hand, the job
done together, the sledge hauled together, the dance danced together, the
child conceived together" (1 16-7). For a critical treatment of this theme in
Le Guin, see Remington.
3. Cf. Orr' s own comments about the Aliens: "it's not surprising that
the Aliens are on my side. In a sense I invented them. I have no idea in
what sense, of course. But they definitely weren't around until I dreamed
they were, until I let them be. So that there is- there always was- a con-
nection between us" (149).
4. The same realization occurs to the characters in another metafictional
science fantasy, Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle (247).

References

Bucknall, Barbara. Ursula K. Le Guin. NY: Frederick Ungar, 1981.

Cummins, Elizabeth. Understanding Ursula K. Le Guin. Columbia: U.
of South Carolina Press, 1990.
Dick, Philip K. The Man in the High Castle. 1962; rpt. NY: Berkley,
1982.
Hull, Keith N. "What Is Human? Ursula Le Guin and Science Fiction's
Great Theme." Modern Fiction Studies 32.1 (1986): 65-74.
Jameson, Fredric. "Progress Versus Utopia; or, Can We Imagine the
Future?" Science-Fiction Studies 9 (1982): 147-58.

322

This content downloaded from

128.114.34.22 on Thu, 14 Dec 2023 15:09:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
In the Arts

Klein, Gerard. "Le Gu

content. " Modern Critical Views : Ursula K. Le Guin. Ed. Harold
Bloom. NY: Chelsea House, 1986. 85-97.
Le Guin, Ursula K. The Lathe of Heaven. 1971; rpt. NY: Avon, 1973.

Night:Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction. E

NY:G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1979. 101-19.
Malmgren, Carl D. "Self and Other in SF: Alien E
ence-Fiction Studies 20. 1 (March 1993): 15-33.

Indiana UP, 1991.

Remington, Thomas J. "The Other Side of Sufferin
and Metaphor in Le Guin's Science Fiction Nov
Guin. Ed. Joseph D. Olander and Martin Harry
Taplinger, 1979. 153-77.
Wood, Susan. "Discovering Worlds: The Fiction o
Guin." Modern Critical Views : Ursula K. Le Guin. Ed. Harold
Bloom. NY: Chelsea House, 1986. 183-209.

323

This content downloaded from

128.114.34.22 on Thu, 14 Dec 2023 15:09:25 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms