Standing Ground Ursula Le Guin Analysis
As with most authors, Ursula Le Guin bases most of her stories and novels on her beliefs and disbeliefs. She is an atheist and relies more on philosophy than religion. Perhaps that is why "Standing Ground," a story that deals with abortion, was written with no objectivity. Le Guin had no religious beliefs interfering with her intended theme. Many of her stories are based on Taoism, where there is good in every evil and evil in every good. In her writings, Le Guin addresses enduring human problems.
She also likes to write about children and their search for identity. Le Guin believes that to become an adult, an individual must "find ways of realizing the great potential in the unknown (Heller 1451)." "Standing Ground" is about a girl …show more content…
who has been thrust into the unknown world of adulthood. She encounters many obstacles but tries to find the good in them. Therefore, by Le Guin's standards, this girl is not a girl at all; she is a woman. Thus the story suggest that maturity does not always come with age; sometimes a child is forced to be an adult and serve as the only source of loving care and support. The plot of this story is about one girl's struggle to overcome the categorization of being young, while at the same time helping her brain damaged mother get an abortion. The story opens mid-afternoon, as the two main characters, Delaware and Sharee,approach an abortion clinic. Standing outside the clinic are Mary and Norman, two prolife demonstrators who assume that Delaware, because of her age, is having the abortion. In the midst of their chanting and sign waving Norman grazes Delaware's should with his sign; this is an invasion of privacy that Delaware battles throughout the story. Once inside the clinic, the receptionist, as well as two nurses, also assumes that Delaware is the one who is pregnant and talk to her as if she were a child. Sree begins to day dream in the waiting room. At this point, the reader find out that Delaware is Sharee's daughter, that Sharee is brain damaged, and that Sharee is pregnant due to date rape. After battling many age related assumptions and obstacles, Delaware helps her mother through the abortion only to have her mother refer to her as a "baby." Outside, Mary and Norman share their views on abortion. They later have a child like argument which proves them to be immature. As an adolescent, Delaware has been forced to mature at an early age. She has faced many common problems of growing up. On a daily basis Delaware has to fight to be taken seriously as an adult. This is shown throughout the story as the employees in the clinic talk to her in a child like tone. Through all of this, Delaware must also try and make plans to attend college. During a conversation in the waiting room, the nurse asks Delaware if she plans on attending college. After a thoughtful pause, Delaware admits to the nurse that she would like to. However, in the back of her mind Delaware knows that she will probably never go to college because she must stay take care of her mother. It is the constant care of her mother that causes Delaware to face a slew of adult problems as well. It was Delaware who made all of the necessary appointments for Sharee to get her abortion. During the ordeal of the abortion, she had to deal with insurance and finance, as well as translating the doctor's technical talk about the procedure into terms that Sharee could understand. Delaware is not happy with her life, but has found somewhat of a balance of the good and bad that she faces and accepts it. Clute notes that just as in Le Guin's other writings, this is the sign of true maturity (572). Other than recognizing the balance between what she wants and what she has, Delaware also exhibits many other common characteristics of a grown adult. While dealing with Sharee, Delaware has what seems to be infinite patience. For example, the clinic workers repeatedly mistake Delaware for the patient. Every time Delaware calmly states otherwise. Any other adolescent would have raised their voice, but Delaware remained patient throughout. She also exhibits an amazing sense of understanding when de ing with Sharee. Delaware feels "strange and sad" about her mother and her lack of seriousness for the situation (71). It is extremely hard for Delaware to remain ready to handle the situation when Sharee, do to her brain damage, is always in somewhat of a playful mood. Heller has noticed that Le Guin often uses the protagonist's conscience to help guide them through hard times (1451). Perhaps it is Delaware's conscience which guides her and gives her this uncanny sense of understanding. Lastly, Delaware is mature enough to recognize her limits. When the doctor asks Delaware to allow him perform the tubal ligation, she realizes that this decision is much to important to make on her own. Heller has also written of Le Guin's belief that both the po tive and negative choices must be maintained to suspend an identity (1451). At her young age, Delaware is somehow aware of this and is able to make what the doctor views as a negative decision with no remorse. All of these traits help reinforce the controlling idea that Delaware is remarkably mature regardless of her age. Delaware faces two main antagonist while helping her mother. One of which is the pair of closed minded prolife demonstrators. Mary and Norman are extremely hard antagonist to overcome because they feel that they are inalienably right. Mary even goes as far as saying "this is a war and we are the army of right (67)." Their presence alone causes Delaware a great deal of stress. With their wild chanting and sign swinging, Mary and Norman make a difficult situation even harder for Delaware. The conta that Norman's sign makes with her shoulder haunts Delaware the entire story. It did not do any great physical damage to her, but caused her serious mental anguish. Delaware puts up a strong facade to help her believe that she is not weak. On the inside, she is scared of all that is happening. In Delaware's world, her conscience and privacy are all that she has left to hold onto. When Norman's sign grazed her shoulder, he invaded her privacy and therefore caused Delaware to feel as if he had left scratch on her soul. According to Bleiler, Le Guin believes that "sometimes when we seek to improve the world, we do more harm than good (1064)." Norman and Mary are a perfect example of this. Blinded by their ambitions to improve the world, they do not stop to think about the possibility that they are harming an innocent girl. Another antagonist that Delaware has to overcome is her young age. Although her age is never stated, it is said that Delaware is still in high school. Most students of the high school age are irresponsible and reckless. They feel that they are super man and that nothing can hurt them.
This is the preconceived notion that the demonstrators and the clinic workers have about Delaware. Every adult that Delaware interacts with in the story assumes that she was irresponsible, made a reckless decision w h a boy, and is now pregnant. These assumptions not only anger Delaware, but hurt her as well. Little do these "adults" realize that she is here to support her mother, nor do they bother to find out before assuming. Delaware's true strength and matur y shines through every time she calmly lets others know that it is Sharee who is pregnant. After finding out that they were mistaken, not a single "adult" is mature enough to apologize. Furthermore, they continue to talk to Delaware as if she is a chi
. Heller notes on Le Guin that "in order to become an adult, one must find ways of realizing the potential of the unknown (1451)." Neither the demonstrators nor the clinic workers took into consideration the unknown possibly that Delaware was there for reasons other than a bad decision. Delaware faces the unknown on a daily basis while caring for Sharee; thus by Le Guin's standards, she is the only true adult in the story, and therefor stronger that any antagonist that she
faces. There are two key scenes which help the reader to fully understand two of the main characters and how they each affect Delaware. The first is the scene in which Norman vividly describes what he believes takes place during an abortion. He thinks that e girls are strapped down and gassed. He pictures that the doctors spread her legs and pry and pull until the fetus, or "he," finally comes out. Norman also believes that the doctors poke at "him" with sharp tools. They cause the woman to "bleed and oan and grit her teeth." They use their knives to pull him out, "lifeless, limp, and dead." (69) This description gives the reader an idea how truly close minded Norman is. He has dedicated his life to the fight against abortion and yet he knows noth g about it. Norman has created a primal and animalistic myth about abortion which helps him to hate those who are involved. Norman is a perfect example of Le Guin's belief that an insecure being will manifest primal myths to compensate for reality (Sc itzer 355). He is a close minded old man who believes in nothing except for the fact that he is inherently right in his fight for life. According to Le Guin, one becomes an adult when they stop projecting evil images upon others (Heller 1451). This s ne shows that Norman, a man in his fifties, projects evil on anyone who has to do with abortion. By Le Guin's standards, Norman is nothing more than a child. This description of the "butcher shop" shows that Norman, even though extremely immature, is difficult character for Delaware to overcome. The second key scene is Sharee's day dream. In the day dream, the reader gains an insight into Sharee's mind; furthermore, they gain an insight to what Delaware must put up with on a daily basis. From the start of this scene, it is immediately obvio that Sharee has the mind set of a child. First, she explains her feelings about Delaware. She talks of how sometimes Delaware acts like the "momma" and thinks she knows everything. She also says despite that, Sharee loves her deeply. Through such d cription in the scene the reader becomes aware of the unbreakable bond that Sharee and Delaware have. This bond justifies any questions of why Delaware has given up a normal life to care for her mother; for the first time, Delaware's reasoning for her ecisions is made clear. During the scene, Sharee also states that she is brain damaged. She describes her special class and how her teacher talks to her. Even though Sharee is unaware, the teacher's tone is amiable and child like. The reader now has n idea of how Sharee must be treated and what Delaware has to endure while caring for her mother. Both of these scenes help to further understand Sharee and Norman, two of the main characters that Delaware interacts with. There are two separate climaxes in this story. The first, is the final argument between Mary and Norman. Throughout the story, they have both kept their thoughts about each other to themselves. Each has their own reasons for protesting, however they o not feel that the other has the merit to be there. In this final argument, they take turns screaming at one another. Mary tries to scare Norman away by threatening to tell the director of the organization on him. Norman responds by standing in the y of Mary's path. In the beginning of the story, they both were portrayed as adults. In the final argument, they are reduced to sniveling little children arguing over a piece of candy. At the climax, Norman and Mary find themselves exactly where they egan; they have found no resolution, and are fighting once again with their eyes shut for a cause that they know little about. The second climax is when Delaware comes to see her mother after the abortion. Although she "looked like a child tucked into bed," Sharee looks at Delaware and says the last line of the story: "Hi baby" (79). After all that Delaware has struggled thr gh to help Sharee, she is still referred to as a child. This is a dramatic ending considering that now Delaware has been referred to as a child by every adult she has interacted with including Sharee. Delaware now realizes that despite all that she sa ifices to care for Sharee, the world will forever view her as a child until she is older. The experience at the clinic has not affected Sharee a great deal, but it will take Delaware time to mentally conquer all that she faced during that day. There i no resolution for Delaware. She knows that the next day will be the same. She will still have to be a "mother" to her mother. Heller notes that Le Guin's protagonist often must face many perennial human problems until they find happiness (1450). As e story ends, Delaware is fully aware that she will have to face many more such enduring problems before society will consider her an adult. Le Guin incorporates a variety of literary devices into this story. She foreshadows the mistake that will commonly be made when early in the story, Mary insinuates that Delaware is the one having the baby. Mary does so in such a dramatic mannerism th it is obvious the mistake will be made again. Le Guin also utilizes sensory imagery when Sharee is comparing the two pregnancies. She describes Delaware as "something soft inside of me that I knew was mine(72)." The reader can almost feel what it is ike to be pregnant. There is also some light comedic relief in this otherwise serious story. A somewhat comical scene occurs when Sharee reminds Delaware "don't curse;" for a split second, the roles are reversed and Sharee is once again the mother. other comical scene is when Sharee, while sitting in the waiting room, begins a discussion with herself about what kind of ice-cream she likes the best. It is through these devices that Le Guin makes the story more tangible for the reader. Delaware never chose to be put into her situation with Sharee. She did not volunteer. She faces the unknown everyday while taking care of her mother. Not by choice, but by a mandate from life. Delaware has been given circumstances to live with. Sh has done so and made the best of it. This is the sign of a true adult. As Delaware has shown throughout the story, maturity does not always come with age; sometimes a child is forced to be an adult and serve as the only source of loving care and suppot.
She also likes to write about children and their search for identity. Le Guin believes that to become an adult, an individual must "find ways of realizing the great potential in the unknown (Heller 1451)." "Standing Ground" is about a girl …show more content…
who has been thrust into the unknown world of adulthood. She encounters many obstacles but tries to find the good in them. Therefore, by Le Guin's standards, this girl is not a girl at all; she is a woman. Thus the story suggest that maturity does not always come with age; sometimes a child is forced to be an adult and serve as the only source of loving care and support. The plot of this story is about one girl's struggle to overcome the categorization of being young, while at the same time helping her brain damaged mother get an abortion. The story opens mid-afternoon, as the two main characters, Delaware and Sharee,approach an abortion clinic. Standing outside the clinic are Mary and Norman, two prolife demonstrators who assume that Delaware, because of her age, is having the abortion. In the midst of their chanting and sign waving Norman grazes Delaware's should with his sign; this is an invasion of privacy that Delaware battles throughout the story. Once inside the clinic, the receptionist, as well as two nurses, also assumes that Delaware is the one who is pregnant and talk to her as if she were a child. Sree begins to day dream in the waiting room. At this point, the reader find out that Delaware is Sharee's daughter, that Sharee is brain damaged, and that Sharee is pregnant due to date rape. After battling many age related assumptions and obstacles, Delaware helps her mother through the abortion only to have her mother refer to her as a "baby." Outside, Mary and Norman share their views on abortion. They later have a child like argument which proves them to be immature. As an adolescent, Delaware has been forced to mature at an early age. She has faced many common problems of growing up. On a daily basis Delaware has to fight to be taken seriously as an adult. This is shown throughout the story as the employees in the clinic talk to her in a child like tone. Through all of this, Delaware must also try and make plans to attend college. During a conversation in the waiting room, the nurse asks Delaware if she plans on attending college. After a thoughtful pause, Delaware admits to the nurse that she would like to. However, in the back of her mind Delaware knows that she will probably never go to college because she must stay take care of her mother. It is the constant care of her mother that causes Delaware to face a slew of adult problems as well. It was Delaware who made all of the necessary appointments for Sharee to get her abortion. During the ordeal of the abortion, she had to deal with insurance and finance, as well as translating the doctor's technical talk about the procedure into terms that Sharee could understand. Delaware is not happy with her life, but has found somewhat of a balance of the good and bad that she faces and accepts it. Clute notes that just as in Le Guin's other writings, this is the sign of true maturity (572). Other than recognizing the balance between what she wants and what she has, Delaware also exhibits many other common characteristics of a grown adult. While dealing with Sharee, Delaware has what seems to be infinite patience. For example, the clinic workers repeatedly mistake Delaware for the patient. Every time Delaware calmly states otherwise. Any other adolescent would have raised their voice, but Delaware remained patient throughout. She also exhibits an amazing sense of understanding when de ing with Sharee. Delaware feels "strange and sad" about her mother and her lack of seriousness for the situation (71). It is extremely hard for Delaware to remain ready to handle the situation when Sharee, do to her brain damage, is always in somewhat of a playful mood. Heller has noticed that Le Guin often uses the protagonist's conscience to help guide them through hard times (1451). Perhaps it is Delaware's conscience which guides her and gives her this uncanny sense of understanding. Lastly, Delaware is mature enough to recognize her limits. When the doctor asks Delaware to allow him perform the tubal ligation, she realizes that this decision is much to important to make on her own. Heller has also written of Le Guin's belief that both the po tive and negative choices must be maintained to suspend an identity (1451). At her young age, Delaware is somehow aware of this and is able to make what the doctor views as a negative decision with no remorse. All of these traits help reinforce the controlling idea that Delaware is remarkably mature regardless of her age. Delaware faces two main antagonist while helping her mother. One of which is the pair of closed minded prolife demonstrators. Mary and Norman are extremely hard antagonist to overcome because they feel that they are inalienably right. Mary even goes as far as saying "this is a war and we are the army of right (67)." Their presence alone causes Delaware a great deal of stress. With their wild chanting and sign swinging, Mary and Norman make a difficult situation even harder for Delaware. The conta that Norman's sign makes with her shoulder haunts Delaware the entire story. It did not do any great physical damage to her, but caused her serious mental anguish. Delaware puts up a strong facade to help her believe that she is not weak. On the inside, she is scared of all that is happening. In Delaware's world, her conscience and privacy are all that she has left to hold onto. When Norman's sign grazed her shoulder, he invaded her privacy and therefore caused Delaware to feel as if he had left scratch on her soul. According to Bleiler, Le Guin believes that "sometimes when we seek to improve the world, we do more harm than good (1064)." Norman and Mary are a perfect example of this. Blinded by their ambitions to improve the world, they do not stop to think about the possibility that they are harming an innocent girl. Another antagonist that Delaware has to overcome is her young age. Although her age is never stated, it is said that Delaware is still in high school. Most students of the high school age are irresponsible and reckless. They feel that they are super man and that nothing can hurt them.
This is the preconceived notion that the demonstrators and the clinic workers have about Delaware. Every adult that Delaware interacts with in the story assumes that she was irresponsible, made a reckless decision w h a boy, and is now pregnant. These assumptions not only anger Delaware, but hurt her as well. Little do these "adults" realize that she is here to support her mother, nor do they bother to find out before assuming. Delaware's true strength and matur y shines through every time she calmly lets others know that it is Sharee who is pregnant. After finding out that they were mistaken, not a single "adult" is mature enough to apologize. Furthermore, they continue to talk to Delaware as if she is a chi
. Heller notes on Le Guin that "in order to become an adult, one must find ways of realizing the potential of the unknown (1451)." Neither the demonstrators nor the clinic workers took into consideration the unknown possibly that Delaware was there for reasons other than a bad decision. Delaware faces the unknown on a daily basis while caring for Sharee; thus by Le Guin's standards, she is the only true adult in the story, and therefor stronger that any antagonist that she
faces. There are two key scenes which help the reader to fully understand two of the main characters and how they each affect Delaware. The first is the scene in which Norman vividly describes what he believes takes place during an abortion. He thinks that e girls are strapped down and gassed. He pictures that the doctors spread her legs and pry and pull until the fetus, or "he," finally comes out. Norman also believes that the doctors poke at "him" with sharp tools. They cause the woman to "bleed and oan and grit her teeth." They use their knives to pull him out, "lifeless, limp, and dead." (69) This description gives the reader an idea how truly close minded Norman is. He has dedicated his life to the fight against abortion and yet he knows noth g about it. Norman has created a primal and animalistic myth about abortion which helps him to hate those who are involved. Norman is a perfect example of Le Guin's belief that an insecure being will manifest primal myths to compensate for reality (Sc itzer 355). He is a close minded old man who believes in nothing except for the fact that he is inherently right in his fight for life. According to Le Guin, one becomes an adult when they stop projecting evil images upon others (Heller 1451). This s ne shows that Norman, a man in his fifties, projects evil on anyone who has to do with abortion. By Le Guin's standards, Norman is nothing more than a child. This description of the "butcher shop" shows that Norman, even though extremely immature, is difficult character for Delaware to overcome. The second key scene is Sharee's day dream. In the day dream, the reader gains an insight into Sharee's mind; furthermore, they gain an insight to what Delaware must put up with on a daily basis. From the start of this scene, it is immediately obvio that Sharee has the mind set of a child. First, she explains her feelings about Delaware. She talks of how sometimes Delaware acts like the "momma" and thinks she knows everything. She also says despite that, Sharee loves her deeply. Through such d cription in the scene the reader becomes aware of the unbreakable bond that Sharee and Delaware have. This bond justifies any questions of why Delaware has given up a normal life to care for her mother; for the first time, Delaware's reasoning for her ecisions is made clear. During the scene, Sharee also states that she is brain damaged. She describes her special class and how her teacher talks to her. Even though Sharee is unaware, the teacher's tone is amiable and child like. The reader now has n idea of how Sharee must be treated and what Delaware has to endure while caring for her mother. Both of these scenes help to further understand Sharee and Norman, two of the main characters that Delaware interacts with. There are two separate climaxes in this story. The first, is the final argument between Mary and Norman. Throughout the story, they have both kept their thoughts about each other to themselves. Each has their own reasons for protesting, however they o not feel that the other has the merit to be there. In this final argument, they take turns screaming at one another. Mary tries to scare Norman away by threatening to tell the director of the organization on him. Norman responds by standing in the y of Mary's path. In the beginning of the story, they both were portrayed as adults. In the final argument, they are reduced to sniveling little children arguing over a piece of candy. At the climax, Norman and Mary find themselves exactly where they egan; they have found no resolution, and are fighting once again with their eyes shut for a cause that they know little about. The second climax is when Delaware comes to see her mother after the abortion. Although she "looked like a child tucked into bed," Sharee looks at Delaware and says the last line of the story: "Hi baby" (79). After all that Delaware has struggled thr gh to help Sharee, she is still referred to as a child. This is a dramatic ending considering that now Delaware has been referred to as a child by every adult she has interacted with including Sharee. Delaware now realizes that despite all that she sa ifices to care for Sharee, the world will forever view her as a child until she is older. The experience at the clinic has not affected Sharee a great deal, but it will take Delaware time to mentally conquer all that she faced during that day. There i no resolution for Delaware. She knows that the next day will be the same. She will still have to be a "mother" to her mother. Heller notes that Le Guin's protagonist often must face many perennial human problems until they find happiness (1450). As e story ends, Delaware is fully aware that she will have to face many more such enduring problems before society will consider her an adult. Le Guin incorporates a variety of literary devices into this story. She foreshadows the mistake that will commonly be made when early in the story, Mary insinuates that Delaware is the one having the baby. Mary does so in such a dramatic mannerism th it is obvious the mistake will be made again. Le Guin also utilizes sensory imagery when Sharee is comparing the two pregnancies. She describes Delaware as "something soft inside of me that I knew was mine(72)." The reader can almost feel what it is ike to be pregnant. There is also some light comedic relief in this otherwise serious story. A somewhat comical scene occurs when Sharee reminds Delaware "don't curse;" for a split second, the roles are reversed and Sharee is once again the mother. other comical scene is when Sharee, while sitting in the waiting room, begins a discussion with herself about what kind of ice-cream she likes the best. It is through these devices that Le Guin makes the story more tangible for the reader. Delaware never chose to be put into her situation with Sharee. She did not volunteer. She faces the unknown everyday while taking care of her mother. Not by choice, but by a mandate from life. Delaware has been given circumstances to live with. Sh has done so and made the best of it. This is the sign of a true adult. As Delaware has shown throughout the story, maturity does not always come with age; sometimes a child is forced to be an adult and serve as the only source of loving care and suppot.