The Shobies' Story
Encyclopedia
The Shobies' Story is a 1990 science fiction novella by American writer Ursula K. Le Guin
, describing a society in which consensus
matters more than individual viewpoints. The Shobies' Story posits a reality that emerges as the sum of what all the participants say: a meta-narrative, a democratically
constructed myth
. Le Guin tells us that the observer is part of the reality she's trying to describe. Every observer sees things differently, and the melding of those interpretations becomes the world.
The Shobies' Story" was nominated for a Nebula Award
in the novelette category in 1991.
from Hain
, the Prime World, the source of the oldest culture and most intelligent life among the planetary group called the Ekumen. Their entire journey involving time-travel lasts only forty-four minutes.
The Crew calls themselves the Shobies after their ship's name, "Shoby". The crews' ritual is gathering around a campfire to discuss the Churten theory and to tell stories that will bond them together. Gveter, the only Cetian in the crew, is much hairier than and not as gifted in language as the others, and he holds close to his knowledge. As a space crew, they had operated by consensual decision using transilience rather than by chain of command. Transilience is the experience of entering the fiction world by way of the imagination. Their equipment that facilitates transilience stops functioning and they can't agree on what they perceive. They start to lose their social cohesion
and in order for the Shobies to tell their story, they must establish themselves with relation to time.
of the characters. Le Guin also shows cultures coming together to work and live in overcoming the struggles the crew faces. There is also a realistic way Le Guin lets one see how the characters perceive others and their events. In the real world people perceive events differently and believe it to be true as others perceive the same events differently and also believe them to be true.
, Time dilation
, cultural issues, and perceptions of reality. The Shobies' Story is based on a crew of ten people traveling to test an experiment that transilence may be an element or agent of transilence. Culture is a factor since the crew memberts originate from different planets. Tai, Betton, and Shan are from Terra
, Gveter is from Anarres
and some of the crew are Hainish-chiffewarian There is a cultural dominance in the sense that each one believes they know what is best for the crew members aboard the ship. Another theme of the story deals with time dilation and how long the trip will take and when or if the Shoby ship will return to the Ve in four to six hundred years. The story mostly deals with perception or how the characters take in the events that occur. Each event has different meaning to different characters like Oreth a child seeing a brown planet and Asten another child not seeing the brown planet and saying that there isn’t anything
Betton: Son of Tai. From Terra. Eleven years old.
Gveter: He has more recent information and presumably a better understanding about their mission than the others, but it has to be pried out of him. Only twenty-five, the only Cetian in the crew, much hairier then the others, and not gifted in language, he spends a lot of time on the defensive. He often lectures the others about their propertarian
habits; but he clings steadfastly to his knowledge, because he needs the advantage it gives him. For a while he speaks only in negatives and outdebates the others using his knowledge of certain physico-philosophico-techo-matter. He is from Annares and has an notable accent. Gveter has a mane on his head, a pelt on his limbs and body, fuzz on his feet and a silvery nimbus
on his hands and face.
Karth: Karth is Gethen
ian. He has two children with Oreth, Asten and Rig.
Oreth: Oreth is also Gethenian. Risk taker. Has two children with Karth. He left Terra when he was eighteen.
Rig: Four years old.
Shan: Offers Betton fatherly-brotherly warmth, but he sought no formal crew relation with him or anyone. Also from Terra. He is dark in appearance and an elegant dancer.
Sweet Today: Sweet Today's physical description can be described as a big, tall, heavy woman in her late fifties. Her tone of voice can be described as slow and comfortable. She asked to be Grandmother to Rig, Asten, and Betton, and was accepted.
Tai: Parent of Betton. From Terra. Does not like to be touched.
Terran Lidi: The only Shoby older than Sweet Today, who was seventy-two earth years old and not interested in grandmothering. Lidi had been navigating for fifty years, and there is nothing she doesn't know about NAFAL (nearly as fast as light) ships, although occasionally she forgets that their ship is the Shoby and calls it the Soso or the Alterra.
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin is an American author. She has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, notably in fantasy and science fiction...
, describing a society in which consensus
Consensus decision-making
Consensus decision-making is a group decision making process that seeks the consent, not necessarily the agreement, of participants and the resolution of objections. Consensus is defined by Merriam-Webster as, first, general agreement, and second, group solidarity of belief or sentiment. It has its...
matters more than individual viewpoints. The Shobies' Story posits a reality that emerges as the sum of what all the participants say: a meta-narrative, a democratically
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
constructed myth
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
. Le Guin tells us that the observer is part of the reality she's trying to describe. Every observer sees things differently, and the melding of those interpretations becomes the world.
The Shobies' Story" was nominated for a Nebula Award
Nebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
in the novelette category in 1991.
Plot summary
In The Shobies' Story, a starship crew faces the physical and psychic effects of traveling faster that lightFaster-than-light
Faster-than-light communications and travel refer to the propagation of information or matter faster than the speed of light....
from Hain
Hain (planet)
Hain is a fictional planet that plays an important background role in the science fiction novels of Ursula K. Le Guin's Hainish Cycle. It is described more closely in some later short stories. It is the oldest culture in both the League of Worlds and later the Ekumen and is about 140 Light Years...
, the Prime World, the source of the oldest culture and most intelligent life among the planetary group called the Ekumen. Their entire journey involving time-travel lasts only forty-four minutes.
The Crew calls themselves the Shobies after their ship's name, "Shoby". The crews' ritual is gathering around a campfire to discuss the Churten theory and to tell stories that will bond them together. Gveter, the only Cetian in the crew, is much hairier than and not as gifted in language as the others, and he holds close to his knowledge. As a space crew, they had operated by consensual decision using transilience rather than by chain of command. Transilience is the experience of entering the fiction world by way of the imagination. Their equipment that facilitates transilience stops functioning and they can't agree on what they perceive. They start to lose their social cohesion
Social cohesion
Social cohesion is a term used in social policy, sociology and political science to describe the bonds or "glue" that bring people together in society, particularly in the context of cultural diversity. Social cohesion is a multi-faceted notion covering many different kinds of social phenomena...
and in order for the Shobies to tell their story, they must establish themselves with relation to time.
Style
The Shobies' Story can be classified as a realistic story in the sense that anyone can place themselves in the story or the events that take place. The short story can correlate to real life by the family valuesFamily values
Family values are political and social beliefs that hold the nuclear family to be the essential ethical and moral unit of society. Familialism is the ideology that promotes the family and its values as an institution....
of the characters. Le Guin also shows cultures coming together to work and live in overcoming the struggles the crew faces. There is also a realistic way Le Guin lets one see how the characters perceive others and their events. In the real world people perceive events differently and believe it to be true as others perceive the same events differently and also believe them to be true.
Themes
The Shobies' Story has a few themes in the story such as interstellar travelInterstellar travel
Interstellar space travel is manned or unmanned travel between stars. The concept of interstellar travel in starships is a staple of science fiction. Interstellar travel is much more difficult than interplanetary travel. Intergalactic travel, or travel between different galaxies, is even more...
, Time dilation
Time dilation
In the theory of relativity, time dilation is an observed difference of elapsed time between two events as measured by observers either moving relative to each other or differently situated from gravitational masses. An accurate clock at rest with respect to one observer may be measured to tick at...
, cultural issues, and perceptions of reality. The Shobies' Story is based on a crew of ten people traveling to test an experiment that transilence may be an element or agent of transilence. Culture is a factor since the crew memberts originate from different planets. Tai, Betton, and Shan are from Terra
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, Gveter is from Anarres
Anarres
Anarres is one of two inhabited planets of Tau Ceti, in the 'Ekumen' science fiction novels by Ursula K. Le Guin.-Geography:Being the smaller body of a double planet system with Urras, Anarres is largely covered by land while having two large seas as the biggest bodies of water.While its society is...
and some of the crew are Hainish-chiffewarian There is a cultural dominance in the sense that each one believes they know what is best for the crew members aboard the ship. Another theme of the story deals with time dilation and how long the trip will take and when or if the Shoby ship will return to the Ve in four to six hundred years. The story mostly deals with perception or how the characters take in the events that occur. Each event has different meaning to different characters like Oreth a child seeing a brown planet and Asten another child not seeing the brown planet and saying that there isn’t anything
Characters
Asten: Six years old.Betton: Son of Tai. From Terra. Eleven years old.
Gveter: He has more recent information and presumably a better understanding about their mission than the others, but it has to be pried out of him. Only twenty-five, the only Cetian in the crew, much hairier then the others, and not gifted in language, he spends a lot of time on the defensive. He often lectures the others about their propertarian
Propertarianism
The term propertarianism has been used to describe various views regarding private property. Those holding positive views on property rights may be described as propertarian. Conversely, others opposed to private property may be described as non-propertarian or...
habits; but he clings steadfastly to his knowledge, because he needs the advantage it gives him. For a while he speaks only in negatives and outdebates the others using his knowledge of certain physico-philosophico-techo-matter. He is from Annares and has an notable accent. Gveter has a mane on his head, a pelt on his limbs and body, fuzz on his feet and a silvery nimbus
Halo (optical phenomenon)
A halo from Greek ἅλως; also known as a nimbus, icebow or gloriole) is an optical phenomenon produced by ice crystals creating colored or white arcs and spots in the sky. Many are near the sun or moon but others are elsewhere and even in the opposite part of the sky...
on his hands and face.
Karth: Karth is Gethen
Gethen
Gethen is a fictional planet in Ursula K. Le Guin's Ekumen universe. It is the setting for her science fiction novel The Left Hand of Darkness.-The planet:...
ian. He has two children with Oreth, Asten and Rig.
Oreth: Oreth is also Gethenian. Risk taker. Has two children with Karth. He left Terra when he was eighteen.
Rig: Four years old.
Shan: Offers Betton fatherly-brotherly warmth, but he sought no formal crew relation with him or anyone. Also from Terra. He is dark in appearance and an elegant dancer.
Sweet Today: Sweet Today's physical description can be described as a big, tall, heavy woman in her late fifties. Her tone of voice can be described as slow and comfortable. She asked to be Grandmother to Rig, Asten, and Betton, and was accepted.
Tai: Parent of Betton. From Terra. Does not like to be touched.
Terran Lidi: The only Shoby older than Sweet Today, who was seventy-two earth years old and not interested in grandmothering. Lidi had been navigating for fifty years, and there is nothing she doesn't know about NAFAL (nearly as fast as light) ships, although occasionally she forgets that their ship is the Shoby and calls it the Soso or the Alterra.