Four Ways to Forgiveness

infobox Book |
name = Four Ways to Forgiveness
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Ursula K. Le Guin
illustrator =
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country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Science Fiction short stories
publisher = HarperCollins
release_date = 1995
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
pages = 228
isbn = ISBN 0-06-105234-5
oclc = 32167377
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Four Ways to Forgiveness" is a collection of four short stories by Ursula K. Le Guin. All of them deal with the planets Yeowe and Werel

Publication history

The collection was first published by Harper Paperbacks (a division of HarperCollins "Publishers") in 1995. "Betrayals" first appeared in 1994 in "Blue Motel". The others appeared in the science fiction magazine "Asimov's" in 1994 and 1995. All four stories are part of the future history of the Ekumen, a collective of planets used by Le Guin as part of the background for many different stories.

Contents

The stories start with the Ekumen in contact with both worlds and Yeowe recently freed from rule by Werel. Werel itself has a slave system that is expected to break down soon.

*"Betrayals" - an old woman on Yeowe and a neighbour who is a disgraced leader from Yeowe's war of liberation.
*"Forgiveness Day" - Solly, a woman of half-terran ancestry and space-travelling parents, faces problems as Envoy to the small kingdom of Gatay on Werel.
*"A Man of the People" - Havzhiva is a man who grows up on Hain, is educated there and then works for the Hainish embassy on Yeowe. It is the fullest account so far of life on Hain.
*"A Woman's Liberation" - Rakam, a woman born as a slave on Werel, tells of her life and her growing self-awareness.

The book ends with "Notes on Werel and Yeowe", giving details of the two planets and their solar system. Note that this 'Werel' is not the same as the world called Werel in "Planet of Exile" and "City of Illusions").

Background

The four stories in "Four Ways to Forgiveness" are based on two planets named Werel and Yeowe, in a distant solar system. These planets are primarily inhabited by a humanoid species with slightly blue-tinged dark or light skin, black hair, and dark eyes.

The common themes of the stories revolve around the concepts of freedom and slavery. For thousands of years, the dark-skinned "owners" of Werel held the light-skinned "assets" in slavery. However, in recent years, following the colonization of the second planet, Yeowe, things have begun to change on Werel. The Yeowans have gained freedom and are struggling to establish their own government and identity, and gain admittance into the Ekumen of worlds.

The second, third and fourth stories have some characters in common. Havzhiva from story three works for Solly from Story Two. He is also the lover of Rakam in Story Four, mentioned but not named in Story Three. Both of them know Dr Yeron, and also Esdardon Aya, 'Old Music'. 'Old Music' is a minor character in Story Two, and the protagonist in the separate short story "Old Music and the Slave Women" in the collection "The Birthday of the World".

ee also

*Werel & its solar system
*Ekumen