How does Lyubov understand the events at Smith Camp?
- What surprised him?
- What is his theory about the Athshenian’s show of violence?
- How does his knowledge affect colonial policy?
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Lyubov understands the events at Smith Camp through an ecological/ scientific point of view whilst taking into account the Athshean population. As a specialist tasked with observing the behavior of the native population and evaluate the possibility of coexistence with humans, Lyubov has learned practically everything he knows about Athsheans from Selver. During his meeting with the higher ups, Lyubov made sure that all of the higher ups were aware of the technical name of the Athsheans as opposed to the derogatory term “creechie”, which Davidson and other army men use out of their hatred of the natures (68). This demonstrates Lyubov’s intentions to call things as they are and to not perpetuate Davidson’s biased story against the Athsheans. However, having observed the non-violent tendencies of the natives, he was rather surprised to hear of Selver’s attempt to use violence against Davidson. Referring back to his knowledge of Athshean behavior, he recalls their “use of a kind of ritualized singing to replace physical contact” and thus proposes that “If Selver sang over Captain Davidson… [did he do it] because he could not kill, or because he preferred the bloodless victory” (73-74). This idea that Selver sang as a non-aggressive form of combat confirms the known fact that the Athsheans are a non-violent species but the fact that Selver has displayed such practices towards Davidson displays an emotional resentment that lies within. Thus, Lyubov explains this possible change in sentiment towards humans as being a product of forced adaptations: “We have ignored the responses, the rights and obligations of non-violence. We have killed, raped, dispersed, and enslaved the native humans, destroyed their communities, and cut down their forests. It wouldn’t be surprising if they decided that we’re not humans” (74). Lyubov suggests that human presence and disregard for the natives has allowed for the Athsheans to “evolve” and be more violent towards humans. Through the notion of adaptations and the survival of the fittest, the Selver realized that his people could not survive in the bloody and heartless world of the humans unless they display the same amounts of violence towards the invaders. Unfortunately, Lyubov’s proposition that humans evoked the violence in Athsheans is seen as a threat to humans like Davidson and the Colonel who believe that humans are all superior and Athsheans are forever the inferior species. On the other hand, the possibility of a retaliation from the natives pushes the representatives of the League of Worlds to provide New Tahiti with an ICD transmitter to ensure that the Colonel check in and follow immediate direction from the Terran Administration. For the Army, this is seen as a threat to their autonomy whereas for Lyubov, he sees this as an opportunity to prevent further deforestation and destruction of the Athshean world.
“Lyubov suggests that human presence and disregard for the natives has allowed for the Athsheans to “evolve” and be more violent towards humans. Through the notion of adaptations and the survival of the fittest, the Selver realized that his people could not survive in the bloody and heartless world of the humans unless they display the same amounts of violence towards the invaders. ”
Yes! The theory of evolution is key to Le Guin’s thinking about how this fictional world is composed.
Also, on the ansible: “For the Army, this is seen as a threat to their autonomy whereas for Lyubov, he sees this as an opportunity to prevent further deforestation and destruction of the Athshean world.” Yes, the ICD transmitter provides Lyubov with a sense of hope. Here we get a hint that Le Guin does not think that technology and science is inherently destructive. While the military exploits technology to dominate this planet, there is the possibility of an alternative, where technology is used to promote communication and cross-cultural exchange.
I think you did a great job on introducing and interpretation the quotes that you have chosen. Each of the quotes has something important to say regarding the circumstances and the actions of the natives. I agree strongly with your analysis here: “Lyubov suggests that human presence and disregard for the natives has allowed for the Athsheans to “evolve” and be more violent towards humans. Through the notion of adaptations and the survival of the fittest, the Selver realized that his people could not survive in the bloody and heartless world of the humans unless they display the same amounts of violence towards the invaders”. The survival of the natives is truly survival of the fittest as they are often times non-violent and even seen as psychotic if they were and sent into isolation.
I also think you clearly described the roles of ICDs and what they do as well as how the Earth colony responds to the implementation of the device. I would like to hear more on what you mean about “For the Army, this is seen as a threat to their autonomy” as I am not entirely sure about what you mean.
Where Davidson and Selver seem to have one sided thoughts in the conflict between Athsheans and humans, Lyubov takes into account both sides as he works for the humans but, protects Selver when he is about to be killed by Davidson after attacking Davidson for raping his wife. Lyubov found the inhabitants of this world to be against violence and totally involved with their surrounding environment. Lyubov states, “I wondered if Selver sang over Captain Davidson, and if so, whether he did because he could not kill, or because he preferred the bloodless victory. These questions have suddenly become rather urgent.” (74). This shows that Selver is starting to react with violence to the constant abuse imposed on his race by the humans. Lyubov is starting to wonder if the Athsheans will start to believe they are not one of them and do not belong thus, resulting in acts of violence from a once nonviolent group of people. He is becoming concerned that the race will be impacted as a whole. This is shown as Lyubov states, “We have killed, raped, dispersed, and enslaved the native humans, destroyed their communities, and cut down their forests. It wouldn’t be surprising if they’d decided that we are not human.” (75). They humans cannot blame them for retaliating as they are destroying their home and killing their race. Lyubov’s knowledge causes the humans policy to be rather simple. The humans must communicate directly with their superiors via a ICD or ansible. This would hope to restrict them from evoking the natives while still doing what they were sent to do. The ICD is introduced and described on page 89. However it is later shown that this ICD does not really accomplish much in terms of protecting the Athsheans.
A. Your clarification of the point, of how Lyubov takes consideration of both humans and the Aestheians, really stands out. In the story, we see that even though the Aestheians lead the attack, Lyubov has a hard time accepting that. During the conference, he seems to side with them but still hopes to make less conflict with the human side.
“Silver is starting to react with violence to the constant abuse imposed on his race”
This statement emphasizes the cause of the attack and not just vaguely states that an attack was lead by the Aestheians.
B. I think the policy does a little more too. You could consider how the slaves were freed. But what remains true with your response w that they were meant to provoke the Aestheians less.
In chapter 3, Lyubov is shown to have a major “headache”. The audience discovers the cause to be the Smith Camp incident. Originally, Lyuboy considered the Athsheans “incapable of killing men”, however, the Smith camp event left him doubting his belief as he considered himself A wrong. Dead wrong.” Lyubov’s emphasis on the death of “Two hundred and seven” men illustrate the intensity of the scene. This clarifies to what extent Luybov was wrong. The number showed it was not a passive retaliation. The event leaves him in a desperate position since everything he was advocating for, just turned against him. During the conference, Lyuboy question Davidson of his response to the attack. His objective was to corner Davidson “in his lies, force him into speaking truth”. Lyubov was convinced the Athsheans were violent because they were mistreated. He tries to point out all the flaws of Davidson who had raped Selver’s wife. Using Davidson as an example, Lyubov indicates the faults in humans too. Lyubov explains, “we ignored the rights and obligations of non- violence. We have killed, raped, dispersed, and enslaved the native humans, destroyed their communities and cut down their forest.” Lyubov’s conclusion was driven from the idea that their kind has failed to treat the Athsheans with care. Instead, they “enslaved” them. To be cautious of events, ICD was implemented. The implementation of ICD allowed for the Terra administration to keep the colonel under direct orders in hoping to provoke the Athsheans less. The “use of weapons of any kind” except few exceptions was forbidden. The policy was mostly targeted to be passive toward the natives as it forbade “aggression or retaliation”. The colony “let loose” every native that was held in the work-force.
You say: “The implementation of ICD allowed for the Terra administration to keep the colonel under direct orders in hoping to provoke the Athsheans less. The “use of weapons of any kind” except few exceptions was forbidden. The policy was mostly targeted to be passive toward the natives as it forbade “aggression or retaliation”. The colony “let loose” every native that was held in the work-force.”
Yes, good description of the response. Here we see the Terran colony attempting to descale their violence to prevent further conflict. However, it may be too late!
Also: “Lyubov explains, “we ignored the rights and obligations of non- violence. We have killed, raped, dispersed, and enslaved the native humans, destroyed their communities and cut down their forest.” Lyubov’s conclusion was driven from the idea that their kind has failed to treat the Athsheans with care.”
Quite right. Here we see a rare fusion of moral and practical insight. It is both ethical to follow the “obligations of non-violence” but also in the best interest of the colonists, as they do not want a conflict with the natives.
You covered all corners of the prompt really well. I like how you highlighted the fact that the Smith camp event might be changing his opinion. I also liked your explanation of the ICD because for me at first I was a bit confused upon first reading about it. You’re very right in saying that Lyubov’s opinion is very much based on the mistreatment on the natives by his own people. He feels somewhat at fault. For next time, I suggest you look into the fact that maybe it is not the Terrans who are so violent but maybe, it’s just Davidson. From what Ive seen, Davidson may be the main source of violence as he only follows his rules. Throughout the story, the other Terrans seem to sympathize with the Natives and feel disturbed by their use of violence while Davidson seems proud by it
Captain Lyubov has a headache that he attempts to console by daydreaming as Selver taught him. Nothing works on helping his headache because it isn’t a migraine, the cause is his surprise at the Athsheans burning down Smith Camp. Lyubov has difficulty digesting the idea that the Athsheans were capable of killing men, “He had written long papers to explain how and why they couldn’t kill men. All wrong. Dead wrong”. He begins to question his work. and attempts to find any shortcomings, but simply cannot. During the meeting at HQ, Lyubov attempts to put down Captain Davidson’s report on the events at Smith Camp. He begins by clarifying the term “creechie” used by Davidson as a means of describing all Athsheans, not only those who do “menial” work as interpreted by Mr. Lepennon. This shows how Lyubov favors the Athsheans by his attempt to clear them of their subordinate standing in the eyes of the non-natives as he wants them to be referred to as Athsheans and not by the derogatory term “creechie”. Lyubov theorizes that the reason for the violence is that because of the constant ill-treatment by the humans, the Athsheans no longer saw the humans as human, deciding to kill them. He says that despite the differences the Athsheans “recognized us as members of their species, as men” and that the humans did not reciprocate that behavior, “We have killed, raped, dispersed, and enslaved the native humans, destroyed their communities, and cut down their forests. It wouldn’t be surprising if they’d decided that we are not human” Lyubov justifies the violence as a revolt to the constant ill treatment of the Athsheans. Although the natives did not appear to the humans as “men”, they had arguably more human qualities than the humans. The Athsheans were compassionate, considerate, and accepting. The Athsheans didn’t resort to violence and replaced physical combat with singing-matches. This shows a theme of preservation in the Athsheans as they not only view their world as a forest and want to preserve it, they want to live peacefully as well by avoiding violence and bloodshed. The knowledge impacts colonial policy greatly, as more stringent laws are kept. Colonists had to “observe extreme caution in all dealings with native inhabitants”. The colonists were forbidden from enslaving any natives and were not allowed to use violence. Lyubov’s perspective contributed to allowing for the natives to be viewed more as equals in colonial policy. It also put down the authority of people like Captain Davidson.
I like your description of the events that conspired at the meeting at Headquarters and how Captain Lyubov somewhat defended the Athshenians and their actions. I also liked how you implemented the evidence into your descriptions of the situation. Maybe something you can do is elaborate more on the colonial policy and what type of “stringent laws” were established, and how it would affect the inhabitants of the world.
Lyubov, compared to the rest of the yumens that have come and essentially conquered the land in which originally belonged to the so called ‘creechies’ are different. He is different from these individuals such as Captain Davidson as he is more understanding towards the “people” that inhibit New Tahiti. There were many things that surprised him but also helped him understand the events that happened at Smith Camp. Previously Smith Camp had been burned down and killed around 200+ lumens living there. Lyubov’s understanding of the inhabitants of New Tahiti had been able to help him understand why these things had happened and explain to his fellow men. He begins by explaining that the New Tahitians are not usually violent in any way and when the men came to their land, they treated them nicely. Lyubov says “For four years they’ve behaved to us as they do to one another. Despite the physical differences, they recognized us as members of their species, as men. However, we have not responded as members of their species should respond. We have ignored their responses, the rights and obligations of non-violence. We have killed, raped and dispersed, and enslaved the native people, destroyed their communities and cut down their forest. It wouldn’t be surprising if they’d decided that we are not human” (Le Guin, 75). Here, Lyubov explains the reason why the people of New Tahiti have turned violent towards the Earth colony; the Earth colony has done nothing friendly to the natives and only terrorized them and took away their land. Lyubov also further discusses that the natives are usually not violent creatures at all. He says “so my informants state, and all my observations supported them, until one dy before yesterday. Rape, violent assault, and murder virtually don’t exist among them” (Le Guin, page 74). Here, Lyubov describes the nature of the natives and how they avoid violence as much as possible. This shows just how bad the situation has gotten that the natives had to use violence against the Earth colony in order to show them just how much damage has been done. It is a warning of telling the Earth colony that they should beware of their actions and stop mistreating the native inhabitants. It is mentioned in the book that the Earth colony will now begin communicating through ICD transmitters as earlier mentioned by Selver, that Lyubov knows of the native’s language and is able to communicate with him and Silver himself could also. The ICD transmitters are also a way in which the colony could be aware on how to not further anger the natives so that something like Smith Camp will not happen again.
You covered a lot of the key points in the reading, but what particularly caught my attention was when you addressed Lyubov’s surprise to the Athshean expression of aggression: “This shows just how bad the situation has gotten that the natives had to use violence against the Earth colony in order to show them just how much damage has been done. It is a warning of telling the Earth colony that they should beware of their actions and stop mistreating the native inhabitants.” You make a very important point about how overbearing the humans are being in their control over the Athsheans because if it wasn’t for human colonization, Selver would not have adapted violent urges which he had learned from Davidson. I personally think this says a lot about how much human and Athshean actions affect one another as well as how incompatible their values are. As you point out, the only way to reach a compromise is to stop mistreating the Athsheans, but of course the other route of “adaptation” which seems to be taking place is the Athens adapting to violence and expressing it themselves.
Lyubov was confused with how were the Astheans capable of killing so much men by burning down the camps. His years of knowledge and long papers were now proven wrong by them. Lyubov says “Nearly five E-years here, and he had believed the Athsheans to be incapable of killing men, his kind or their kind. He had written long papers to explain how and why they couldn’t kill men. All wrong. Dead wrong. What had he failed to see?”(55). Lyubov during all these years never would of thought that this could happen thats why he is so confused on the circumstances that had happened. Lyubov’s theory on how the Atheans show violence is he realized that they have been trying to adapt to us but we aren’t the ones trying to adapt and that they see the New Tahitans as animals because they rape, kill and enslave and maybe they just finally saw them as animals and since they are carnivorous they decided to kill them. For example “However, we have not responded as members of their species should respond. We have ignored the responses, the rights and obligations of non-violence. We have killed, raped, dispersed, and enslaved the native humans, destroyed their communities, and cut down their forests. It wouldn’t be surprising if they’d decided that we are not human. And therefore can be killed, like animals, yes yes,” (65). The New Tahitians haven’t been showing a good example to the Astheans and they finally saw them as animals and burned down the forest to kill them. The colonial policy changes so that now the humans have to communicate with the superiors via an ICD so that they can updates immensely quick. The ICD was in hopes to stop triggering the natives and still making them do what they were sent do in New Tahiti.
Lyubov is an anthropologist who befriended the Athsheans people, unlike the rest of the humans. At the beginning of chapter three Lyubov has a migraine because of the event that just occured. The Athsheans people killed the colonists.This troubled Lyubov because he believed that the aaa people would never kill anyone, “his kind or their kind”. He was so certain that the Athsheans people were incapable of killing he even wrote papers explaining why they would not kill anyone. Lyubov decided the only reason they killed was because the humans treated them so terribly that it led them to kill. If this is true one may conclude that violence is a learned behavior and not a natural instinct.
a. Explains what your peer is doing well.
You explained why Lyubov was surprised quite well. You explain that “he was so certain that the Athsheans people were incapable of killing he even wrote papers explaining why they would not kill anyone.” And that finding out that he was wrong gave him a migraine.
b. Provides suggestions about what your peer might develop or further explore.
I think you are missing a portion about Lyubov’s theory of why the Athsheans attacked. It is important to note that he believes this horrible treatment by the humans led the Athsheans to believe that they are not human, and thus can be killed. Another problem is thatyou did not answer the portion about how this affects colonial policy.
What surprised Lyubov about the events at smith camp was the fact that in all his research he had come to the conclusion that the Athsheans were not a violent species. While he was experiencing a painful migraine he thought, “nearly five E-tears here, and he had believed the Athsheans to be incapable of killing men, his kind or their kind.” This explains his confused state about the aggression of the Athsheans because he believed that their innate nature was peaceful. Additionally, Lyubovs’ theory about the Athsheans show of violence was due to adapting to the colonists and their cruel behavior towards them. He says to the colonists that at first the Athsheans accepted the men as the same species at them so they intended to treat them with respect but instead, “we have killed, raped, dispersed, and enslaved the native communities, and cut down their forests.” In other words, because the colonists did not show an ounce of respect to them back and even destroyed their homes and massacred innocents, the Athsheans do not consider them to be human anymore. They then fought back against their attackers in order to survive and keep their native traditions alive. Furthermore, Lyubovs’ knowledge affects colonial policy because the ICD transmitter was introduced to affectively communicate between worlds. The commander explained why this was important for them to use, “as you can see, this is as important to us as an interstellar species, as speech itself was to us earlier in our evolution. It’ll have the same effect: to make a society possible.” This was a plan that was to be implemented so no further hostile acts from the Athsheans would occur. This device would make the communicating and receiving information immensely quicker so that the colonists could accomplish what their mission is but less conflict.
After answering the first prompt of the question, Liora then implements a quote that supports her answer clearly. Secondly, I like that she had touched upon the fact that the colonists had not respected the Athsheans as a species resulting in violence towards the inhabitants. The only thing I wished was approved upon in this response was her explanation of the third prompt. which didn’t directly answer how Lyubov’s knowledge affected the colony. For example she may had answered with a generalized statement such as “This was a plan that was to be implemented so no further hostile acts from the Athsheans would occur.”, however she should explain how the knowledge played into that conclusion.
Lyubov is a specialist that spent about “five E-years” studying the Athsheans and concluded that they were incapable of killing men however the massacre in Davidson’s camp proved his theory to be wrong. During the meeting Lyubov still claim that his observation showed that “rape, violent assault, and murder virtually don’t exist among them.” Even though the massacre in the camp prove that the Athshenians were capable of violence, Lyubov still sided with the Athshenians. Lyubov theorized that these violent actions caused the Athshenians to adapt to their violent behaviors. He states “We have killed, raped, dispersed, and enslaved the native humans, destroyed their communities, and cut down their forests. It wouldn’t be surprising if they’d decided that we are not human.” Since the humans from Earth does not have the same conduct as the natives, then the natives deem the humans from Earth as “animals.” Since the humans were exploiting the ecosystem and the natives to “enslave” them they responded back with violence. This knowledge affects colonial policy because the implementation of the ICD allows for instant communication despite being lightyears away from the Earth. Using this device, they will need to report and conduct according to the rules of their superiors to prevent violence between the humans and Athshenian.
Lyubov is an anthropologist who wants to create a connection between the humans and Athshenians through language differences and data collected. Lubov spoke to the natives who would say that “he wanted to know about us; so I would tell him what he asked, and he too would tell me what I asked”, showing his interest in the Athshenians. Knowing his studies confirms his credibility and also shows why he believes the Athshenians attacked back. He believes that the natives are trying to defend themselves from the environmental destruction and protect themselves from being attacked and put into slavery. The natives are reciprocating what the humans have done to them. Colonial policy will adapt to stop the violence between the two races to create peace. This will go along with what Lyubov wants which is the protection of the people, the ecosystem, and the relationship between humans and nature.
” He believes that the natives are trying to defend themselves from the environmental destruction and protect themselves from being attacked and put into slavery”
As a result of Lyubov’s research the Colonel was lead to believe that the Athshenian was a peaceful and non-violent species. Lyubov tries to justify this by claiming there actions were fair and inevitable after the attacks on their land and people. Going off what you claimed I do think because of the constant environmental destruction, this caused the “creechies” to act in a way that was not normalized. As a result of this behavior the colonial policy had “adapt to stop the violence between the two races to create peace.” This is vital in resolving any issues between the two communities and preventing the spread of further violence.
Lyubov is a unique character within the story, who acts as a middle ground between the characters of Selver and Davidson. Lyubov’s role on the site is to be an anthropologist who researches the Athshenian who live near the colony. Lyubov was surprised that Selver had attempted to attack Davidson, due to Lyubov concluding that the Athshenian people not using any violence. However Davidson brought this act of violence upon himself by raping Selver’s wife, which seems to prove Lyubov theory about the Athshenians using violence. To be specific, it seems that the Athshenians only use violence as response to the destruction of the enviroment that was being caused by the colonists. The Athshenians do not have any sort of violence amongst themselves as Lyubov reveals; “Among adults, yes. So my informants state, and all my observation supported them, until day before yesterday. Rape, violent assault, and murder virtually don’t exist among them.”, so this act of retaliation must have only been caused by the Colonists, With the installation of the ICD transmitter, Lyubov could potentially make the superiors aware of the injustice and violence the Athshenians are enduring, by providing the basis and evidence for his theory, and could possibly improve their relationship.
“However Davidson brought this act of violence upon himself by raping Selver’s wife, which seems to prove Lyubov theory about the Athshenians using violence.”
This is a good point, it seems that Davidson himself and others he commanded to do the same cruel things to the Athsheans were the cause of their newly adapted violence.
You can further improve the grammar because there are two displaced commas after the quotation. However, everything else is good!
Raj Lyubov views the events that have occurred at the Smith Camp through his previous study findings of the Athshean population and also from his logic of why the natives might have committed the horrendous act. What surprises Lyubov the most is the fact that the Athsheanians have killed masses of humans at the camp because, through his years of studying their behaviors and traditions, he viewed them to be a non-violent species who are incapable of inflicting harm to others. This is supported by the statement of Lyubov, “The Athsheans aren’t incapable of personal violence, that’s never been asserted in any of my studies of them… The Athsheans themselves see the similarity to their singing-matches, which are also only between males; but as they observe, theirs are not only aggression-releases but an art-form. The better artist wins… he could not kill, or because he preferred the bloodless victory” (p.70). From Lyubov`s findings, it can be concluded that the natives had completely different practices and acts when they are confronted with their rivals as opposed to human practices, which usually involves some forms of violence. The natives participated in singing contests with their enemies and whoever won would be the one who defeated the enemy. The most extreme psychotic ones would be placed in small islands by themselves as a punishment. The horrifying act of murdering hundreds of men at the camp completely surprised Lyubov, which then prompted him to reason that the cruel treatments that they have received from the human race might have set off their actions. Lyubov states “ For four years they’ve behaved to us as they do to one another. Despite the physical differences, they recognized us as members of their species, as men. However, we have not responded as members of their species should respond. We have ignored the responses, the rights, and obligations of non-violence. We have killed, raped, dispersed, and enslaved the native humans, destroyed their communities, and cut down their forests. It wouldn’t be surprising if they’d decided that we are not human” (p. 73). This shows how the human immigrants of this planet have failed to reciprocate the kind gestures of the natives, instead, they launched the campaign of forcing them into human life and even degraded them due to their differences. From Lyubov`s account, the human population raped, killed, and even enslaved the natives of the planet. So it is understandable why the natives of the planet would commit such horrendous acts because they had enough mistreatment from the humans. Unfortunately, Lyubov`s great in-depth knowledge of the Athsheans, the natives of the planet, does not affect the colonial policy because every general and people in the higher ranks are not giving much importance to what Lyubov has to say and even dismissed his claims of the natives as erroneous, which degraded his legitimacy.
Lyubov viewed the events at Smith camp as surprising but his beliefs on why the event took place did not change his input on the people. Selver whom is a close friend of Lyubov was the one to lead the rebellion and was not willing to alter his opinions and did not question Selver’s motives as a result of the attack. Although it did end up killing hundreds of humans, to a certain extent Lyibov saw this as justified but wildly unlikely. Due to Lyubov’s connection with the “creechies”, the other members in power deemed his theory on the attack as “ erroneous” as he claimed that the population was ultimately peaceful and resisted violence. Lyubov claimed the reasoning behind the massacre because they have “ignored the responses, the rights and obligations of non- violence. We have killed, raped, dispersed, and enslaved the native humans, destroyed their communities, and cut down their forests. It wouldn’t be surprising if they’d decided that we are not human.” Showing the constant misery the humans imposed onto the population, that might be a reason for the revolt, but Lyubov’s research previously contrasted this revealing that the creechies are relatively harmless and peaceful. As the other commanders consult with Captain Davidson on the situation, they are reluctant to believe what Lyubov is claiming as he has been wrong with his first assumption on the creatures. Lyubov believed that these creatures were solely harmless and did not posses such tendencies which changes his views on their violent behavior. As a result of the attack on Davidson’s, the policy changed that no one was able to go into creechies territory. This prohibited the people for being able to accomplish and finish their duties with stocking up wood.
a. Explains what your peer is doing well.
I think you did well at introducing the text with the background information on Lyubov and Selver here, “Lyubov viewed the events at Smith camp as surprising but his beliefs on why the event took place did not change his input on the people. Selver whom is a close friend of Lyubov was the one to lead the rebellion and was not willing to alter his opinions and did not question Selver’s motives as a result of the attack.”. The background helped me understand what part you would be referring to from the book.
b. Provides suggestions about what your peer might develop or further explore.
I believe you should discuss the differences between the humans and Athshenians to further explain why violence was normal for humans but not for the natives.
From Lyubov’s descriptions of the Athshenians we are able to see how knowledgeable he is towards observing them. Despite other colonists calling them as “creechie,” he tried to introduce them as Athshenians so others would refer to them with more respect. Lyubov was surprised by the attack in the Smith Camp because the Athsinians had been there for years, but it’s the first violent attack they did to the colonists. He later figured out that it was normal due to what Davidson did to Silver’s wife, Selver was the only adult that could control the others and he wanted to take revenge on Davidson for his wife’s death. In chapter 5, Lubov explained to others,“Well, the point is, that Selver’s personal hatred for Captain Davidson may serve as a partial explanation or motivation for this unprecedented assault. The Athsheans aren’t incapable of personal violence, that’s never been asserted in any of my studies of them,” which shows how much he has been observing their actions since he immediately figured out why there was violence. Under colonialism, Lyubov takes the stance of going against brutal control on the natives. He mentioned, “objecting only to extreme cases of brutality against the natives, using persuasion not defiance, and conserving what shred of power and influence he had.” In order to prevent the brutal treatments of the Athsenian’s he’s trying to use his knowledge to teach colonists that they should be considered as human because of their culture. Since he does not have much power, he’s slowly changing the stereotypical ideas but still is unable to prevent the exploitation. Although he tries to expose the cruel acts of Davidson, it’s difficult to because Davidson keeps making up lies to cover up his actions.
a. Explains what your peer is doing well.
You used the first quote very well to support the idea that Lyubov pays careful attention to the Athsheans and his opinion in general of the Athsheans.
b. Provides suggestions about what your peer might develop or further explore.
One suggestion is trying to prove and talk further on the intentions of Lyubov. While you make it clear what his motive is, I think you can address how the actions and interactions of the Athsheans have shifted due to their colonial rule. A good example to use would be Captain Davidson to support this.
Lyubov was surprised that the Athsheans were capable of the extent of violence that they exhibited at Smith Camp. His years of research told him that the Athshenians were peaceful beings, and to discover that his theories about their peaceful nature were “all wrong. Dead wrong,” gave him a headache. His new theory about the Athsheans is that they no longer saw “yumens” as humans after witnessing their capability for violence and “not [responding] as members of their species should respond.” Thus, they are not humans “and therefore can be killed, like animals.” Since Athsheans are carnivorous, they do not see hunting animals as taboo, thus justifying the massacre at Smith Camp. Now knowing that Athsheans are capable of violence, the new policy is to report to Earth using an ICD and to be more careful to not provoke Athsheans again.
I think your description on how Lyubov previously viewed the Athsheans as incapable of violence is accurate. He was devastated by their actions to the point where he got a migraine. I do think you left out that he previously advocated for them and wrote papers explain how and why they could never hurt anyone. Also, i think you could have mentioned that Lyubov believed that humans are the reason why they resorted to violence. The inhuman way that the humans treated the Athsheans led them to change from their usual practice of peace and dreams to violence and killing.
Luyov serves as a complete contradiction in comparison to the opinions and behaviors of the colonists. The colonists saw the Athshenians as barbaric and reffered to them as a derogatory term, “creechie”. Their conclusions surprised Luyov because he has studied these people’s behaviors and did not come to the same conclusions, “Nearly five E-years here, and he had believed the Athsheans to be incapable of killing men, his kind or their kind. He had written long papers to explain how and why they couldn’t kill men. All wrong. Dead wrong.”. Their newfound aggressive behavior did not make sense to Luyov because these behaviors had never been displayed before. He couldn’t understand why they had killed numerous people by fire. He finds that maybe the Athsheanians see the colonists as others, We have killed, raped, dispersed, and enslaved the native humans, destroyed their communities, and cut down their forests. It wouldn’t be surprising if they’d decided that we are not human“. Their animalistic behavior towards the people has declared them to be unlinke themselves so they are now seen as animals and could be being hunted. They have just adapted to the behavior of the colonists but, that will not work in the colonists favor. The colonists will now use an ICD in an attempt to have less conflicts with the Athshenians but they still don’t seem to take Luyov seriously.
I agree with a lot of what you said and wrote a somewhat similar response focusing on Lyubov’s opinion on the Athsheans as a generally non-aggressive species. You explained the reasons why Lyubov was surprised and his personal perspective on the Athsheans well, and how it contrasts with that of the other colonists.
I think you could have expanded on the impact he has on colonial policy, and I think that either a focus on how his research has led many to believe that the Athsheans are incapable of violence or how the colonists have decided to avoid the Athsheans would’ve been good.
In chapter 3, captain Lyubov described the events of the conference in his own voice and perspective. In the beginning of the chapter, he recognized the tension between the humans and the Athsheans, and expressed his surprise towards the Athsheans, because he never thought they were capable of killing people. Since Lyubov was a specialist, he spent time with the Athsheans and described them as peaceful and non-aggressive beings. Therefore, he was surprised to hear they killed so many people, since they hardly ever kill humans or their own kind. For instance, in trying to understand what provoked the Athsheans to be violent, Lyubov questioned Davidson about his encounter with Selver. He asked about Selver’s singing, to explain that instead of utilizing violence upon their enemies, “the Athsheans use a kind of ritualized singing to replace physical combat” (73). In other words, this is their way of releasing aggression since they are incapable of killing. Though, Lyubov continues with this theory, and explains that the Athshean’s have reached their climax. He says, “We have ignored the responses, the rights and obligations of non-violence. We have killed, raped, dispersed, and enslaved the native humans, destroyed their communities, and cut down their forests” (75). The Athsheans have been obedient to the humans for years, but have finally revolted against them for their own safety and to protect their home. Overall, Lyubov remained passionate about the exploitation and abuse towards the Athsheans and about wanting to save the forest as well as the “forest people.” His knowledge was able to create change in colonial policy, as new laws were created. For instance, new policies forbid forced labor, retaliation against the forest people, and the use of weapons. Most importantly, the new policies set each Athshean free from the humans’ power.
you did a really good job answering the questions completely. I like how you also gave a background of the topic you were going to discuss and then gave a quote and a well rounded analysis. One thing that I really enjoyed was how you explained the reason why the Athsheans wanted to retaliate against the humans. This is because you showed that they were not bad they were just tired of being slaves and they wanted to save their home.
Lyubov is surprised that the Athsheans burnt down Smith Camp because he had “believed the Athsheans to be incapable of killing men” and had written papers to explain how and why they couldn’t kill men. Lyubov’s knowledge and research has led Terran humans to believe that the Athsheans are “intraspecies non-aggressive” and not capable of violent revolt. As a result, the fire and the attack on Captain Davidson was surprising to both him and upper brass. Lyubov further believes that his research on “Native Adjustment to Colonial Presence” and the exploitation of Athsheans was hidden from the majority of administration because they believed the Athsheans would not revolt.
Lyubov theorizes that the revolt was partially due to a person grudge that Selver holds against Captain Davidson for the rape and murder of his wife, and that he didn’t kill Captain Davidson because he may have been in an aggression-halting position. He tells the others that “rape, violent assault, and murder virtually don’t exist among” the Athsheans as they generally channel aggression through ritualized singing competitions. Lyubov believes that the Ashtheans have adapted to believe that the Terrans are not humans, and Lepennon agrees that they may have adapted to think that the Terrans can be killed “like animals”.
Very good analysis of the men’s failure to perceive the Ashthenians as aggressive due to the research done by Lyubov. It may have been more helpful to speak on the singing rather than fighting to further the colonists point of the people not being aggressive. The conclusion of Terrans being like animals is also an interesting point that I agree with.
Lyubov was surprised that his formed belief from his research of “nearly five E-tears here, and he had believed the Athsheans to be incapable of killing men, his kind or their kind” was actually quite wrong. He had assumed entirely that the Athsheans were not a community that acted out violently but the recent events at smith camp proved him wrong. This shows why he was in such a confused state of mind regarding their aggressive behavior because he in all thought that the Athsheans were civil, peaceful, good hearted individuals not capable of such horrible acts towards anyone. Next, Lyubovs’ theory about the Athsheans show of violence was that they had done so in order to adapt to the colonists presence into their territory and the colonists unjust acts towards them. He tells the colonists that in the beginning the Athsheans were able to welcome the men as if they were their own, intending to respect everyone and coinhabit but instead, the men “have killed, raped, dispersed, and enslaved the native communities, and cut down their forests.” This shows how the colonists just came into their world acting self righteous and disrespectful while at the same time wreaking havoc without remorse, leading the Athsheans to view them in such a negative light. Thus causing the Athsheans to start attacking the colonists back in means of protecting themselves and to keep their traditional world alive. Adding on, Lyubovs’ knowledge affects colonial policy because he was able to introduce the ICD transmitter which allows effective communication between the different worlds. It’s importance of its usefulness was stated “as you can see, this is as important to us as an interstellar species, as speech itself was to us earlier in our evolution. It’ll have the same effect: to make a society possible.” Thus by implementing this device, they are hoping to stop the horrible acts against the colonists from occurring any further since they would have an easier and more efficient means of communicating without the hassle of conflict arising.
You answered the three questions really well. Each part had its own detail that corresponded to the answer to show proof and where you got the answer. After the quote you also elaborated on the quote to show that you understood it. Also you used good transition words to show you’re moving on to answer the next question.
Very good post and description!
You might also want to further explore Lyubov’s findings more to see why he thought the Astheans couldn’t kill the humans and ended up actually doing so.
Lyubov understands the events at Smith Camp from a balanced and equal perspective of both sides. While he works with humans, hence understanding them, he understands the Athshenians just as equally. Unlike Captain Davidson, Lyubov does not treat or think of the Athshenians in any alienated way. In fact, he observes them in a scientific way to better understand how these species work. Lyubov asks many questions to Captain Davidson as he is concerned about the violent actions towards Davidson. One remark that he makes is when he says, “The Athsheans aren’t incapabe of personal violence, that’s never been asserted in any of my studies of them.” (Guin 71) Hence, this explains why Lyubov would be surprised about their violent motives. One theory that he makes is their “aggression-channeling devices”. Lyubov theorizes that the “Athsheans use a kind of ritualized singing to replace physical combat.” (Guin 73) This is one of the traditions that they used to follow. However, due to their colonial influence, they don’t follow this tradition and have started dealing with matters differently, claiming similarity to humans “by adapting their behavior to us.” (Guin 75). Lyubov deduces that their acts of revolt and violence aren’t surpising as they have done a lot of bad against them (kill, rape, destroy (Guin 75)). As a result of the treatment and colonial policy of the humans, Lyubov believes the violent actions against the human race of the Athshenians were bound to happen.
I think you did well on analyzing Lyubov’s identity by using quotes to prove how knowledgeable he is on the Athshenians. You mentioned on how they were “incapable of personal violence,” which answered the question clearly on why he was surprised on this event. It would be better if you added on to how Lyubov is very knowledgable, therefore he is trying to you this knowledge to reduce the amount of violence in the camp, because that seems like a a problem that might constantly occur later on in the reading. Overall, the quotes you pulled out from the reading was very good on describing Lyubov’s role in the camp.
Captain Lyubov is found in chapter 3 reminiscing about the events at Smith Camp while battling a migraine. As he reflects on the fire that left 207 men dead, he thinks about the data he was collecting and how it compares to “dust, rubbish, a mess of false data and fake hypotheses.” He thought that the Athsheans were incapable of killing men and was rather surprised at the events that took place 2 days ago on an island two hundred miles away. At the headquarters’ meeting, Lyubov spoke about the grudge Selver held against Captain Davidson because of the loss of Selver’s wife and how it could have been the reason for his part in helping kill the 207 men. His other theory on the Athshenian’s show of violence is that they were responding to the actions of Davidsons’s people accordingly. In his words, at first, “they recognized them as members of their species” but they did not respond in a manner that was acceptable. Lyubov made it known that they have, “killed, raped, dispersed, and enslaved the native humans, destroyed their communities, and cut down their forests. It wouldn’t be surprising if they’d decided that we are not human.” These despicable actions that Davidson’s people have taken is the reason for their revolt and retaliation. His knowledge affected colonial policy because it allowed for the implementation of ICD, which would make communication easier to avoid any more violent altercations with the Athshenians and the world’s inhabitants.