Herland: Chapter 6: Comparisons Are Odious Summary & Analysis

Van assures the reader that he had always been very proud of America, but the questions that Somel, Moadine, and Zava ask during his time in Herland leave him, Terry, and Jeff in the awkward position of having to discuss elements of American society that they would rather avoid. As the men grow more fluent in the Herlandian language, their tutors begin asking them more and more questions about American culture. They are particularly interested in what Terry said about working women.

Zava, Moadine, and Somel ask what “poor” is. Terry’s initial reaction is to assure them that most European countries tell Americans that they don’t know what poverty is really like, because American society is so successful. Zava innocently says that she and the other tutors simply don’t know what poor means and repeats the request for more information. Van explains how some people are able to work their way to the top of the pecking order (the upper classes) while those on the bottom (the lower classes) struggle to survive, which sometimes forces women to work for money. Moadine assumes that the women who are forced to work for money don’t have children, but Jeff explains that the poorer women are, the more children they usually have.

Moadine tells Terry that soon they will be brought around the country to meet more women and to let other women meet him, Van, and Jeff. More importantly, the men are to teach the women about life outside of Herland. Van notes that Herlandians have little to no knowledge of geology, geography (outside of their own country), anthropology, and history (aside from their own). However, Herlandians do have a deep understanding several different sciences (like botany and chemistry). Van is also surprised to discover that knowledge is so openly and widely shared in Herland that “what one knew, all knew, to a very considerable extent.” In fact, Van notes that the women there have a higher level of general intelligence than Americans enjoy. The men are asked to share their knowledge with groups of middle-aged women, but it is a long time before they are invited to talk to younger women.  

Terry impatiently asks what the women plan to do with him, Van, and Jeff. Moadine calmly explains that she and the other women want to learn more about the outside world, and they want to teach the men about Herland. Terry asks why he and the other men are being kept shut up in the fortress, so Moadine explains that it is a question of safety. Rather pleased with this answer, Terry reassures Moadine that they won’t hurt any of the young women. However, Moadine explains that they are actually concerned for the men—because it is a society of mothers, if one of the men does accidentally hurt a child or young woman, the older women might hurt the men. As Moadine explains, the children are at the center of Herlandian culture and every choice the adults make is made with the children in mind.

To the reader, Van explains what motherhood means to the Herlandians. After the trauma of losing their men 2,000 years before and the sudden development of parthenogenesis, Herlandian women became preoccupied with developing the best possible society for the benefit and preservation of their descendants. Recognizing the importance of cooperation, the women learned the skills necessary to take care of their physical well-being (carpentry, weaving, farming, etc.). However, they also soon learned that if each woman continued having five children, the small country would become overfilled and cease to meet the needs of the women and children. Rather than fighting each other for land and resources, the women sat down together, decided how many people the country could support, and agreed to limit their population to that number.

Van explains that motherhood has a more complex meaning in Herland than it does in America, where motherhood is characterized by helplessness and an inability to adequately control reproduction. In Herland, mothers are “Conscious Makers of People,” and maternal love is more like a religion than an instinct. Included in this love is a sense of sisterhood because the women of Herland are closely related. Van notes that while American women become consumed with the love and care they have to provide to their own children, the women of Herland direct their love and care to all of the children.

After reading that the Herlandians decided to limit their population, Van asks Somel to explain how they do it. Somel explains that motherhood is considered sacred and each woman is only allowed to have one child. There are, however, very special exceptions made—a woman may be allowed to have more than one child as the highest honor the state can give an individual. The women who have more than one child are called Over Mothers. Van asks how the women prevent pregnancy, saying that they “surely” don’t kill the unborn. At this, Somel turns ghastly pale and Van realizes just how anxious he is not to let the women of Herland think ill of American women. He tells her that infanticide is rare, something only criminal women do.

Somel goes on to explain that, centuries before, Herlandians realized that when a woman is about to conceive, she goes through a period of exaltation. The women learned that if they direct their energy toward physical and mental work at this time, they can defer conception until they are ready to have their one (and usually only) child. Somel says that she thinks the reason the children of Herland are so deeply loved by everyone is because no woman has enough of her own children. Van grapples with how pitiful this seems, but Somel assures him that the women still have an outlet for their love by taking part in caring for all the children. Additionally, limiting population growth has allowed the Herlandians to perfect the art of educating children to embody the egalitarian and sisterly spirit of Herland and contribute to its progress.