The Dispossessed: Chapter 13 Summary & Analysis

As the ship bearing Shevek away from Urras breaks orbit, the stars of the universe—Anarres among them—come into view. Shevek is shown around the ship, which is named the Davenant. Shevek notes that this ship is vastly different from the Mindful, the freighter he came in on. The ship is fragile-looking, but spacious and solid on the inside. There is a garden for recreation, bathed in artificial sunlight, and at night the ceiling provides a clear view of the stars. The ship is designed to spend months at a time in space, and has been made eminently livable for its inhabitants. Shevek notes that the style is not opulent in the Urrasti way or austere in the Anarresti, but strikes a balance between the two. The Hainish crewmembers are considerate and somber, and the Hainish race gives off the appearance of being very old, even among the youngest of them.

Shevek spends most of the journey in silence, speaking only when spoken to. Though many people on the ship are drawn to him, they are also shy of him--but Shevek is hardly aware of anyone else onboard, so fixated is he on his return to Anarres and his family. Shevek feels he is like a man who has just been released from jail, and is aware of his broken hopes and his inner joys simultaneously.

On the second day of his journey, Shevek speaks via radio to the Syndicate of Initiative back on Anarres, listening and answering their questions in Pravic. After his radio conversation, Shevek tells the Hainish first mate, Ketho, that the Anarresti will contact him tomorrow to arrange entry. Ketho notes that it seems, from Shevek’s conversation, that he got some good news, and Shevek confirms that he did. He tells Ketho, in Ioti—the only tongue they share—that the landing tomorrow will be “exciting,” attended by friends and enemies alike, though Shevek believes that there are more friends and supporters awaiting him than there were when he left.

Ketho asks Shevek if he fears being attacked upon returning, and Shevek concedes that he accepts the risk of having been a dissident in his society—it is his privilege as an Odonian to even be able to take the risk. Ketho tells Shevek that he will take Shevek down to the surface in a landing craft, and will be glad to witness Shevek’s return alongside him.

Shevek asks Ketho if he wants to land with him rather than just alongside him, and Ketho says that he does. Shevek asks if Ketho’s commanding officer would allow him to visit Anarres, and Ketho replies that it is his duty, in fact, as an officer of a mission ship, to investigate new worlds when possible. Shevek considers Ketho’s request, informing him that the Terms of the Closure of the Settlement of Anarres do not permit Urrasti to land anywhere other than the port, but that because Ketho is Hainish and not Urrasti, there is no precedent. Ketho states that he believes all foreigners, by implication of the Terms, are barred from Anarres. Shevek states that Anarresti managers who, after first contact with the Hainish sixty years ago, wanted to keep them out were just “building more walls.” He asks Ketho why he wants to land on Anarres.

Ketho replies that he is curious about Anarres after reading Odo’s works. After confirming that visiting Anarres is Ketho’s own wish, and that he understands it might be dangerous, Shevek tells Ketho that things are “a little broken loose on Anarres.” Though the purpose of Shevek’s journey was to shake things up and make Anarresti ask important questions of their society, he did not realize that in his absence such conflict would take hold. Because of this, Shevek tells Ketho that he will not bring him to Anarres as an official representative of a foreign government. Rather, once Ketho crosses the wall separating the Port from the rest of the world, Ketho will take on all the responsibilities of an Anarresti and become one of them. Though Ketho will be given unprecedented freedom as an Odonian, Shevek warns, “freedom is never very safe.”

Though Ketho knows he might feel alone on Anarres, he insists that his race is very old, and has experienced and experimented with many social models, anarchism among them. Ketho himself, though, has never lived as an anarchist, and longs to try something new. He wonders why anyone is born if not to make each single life new. Shevek, in Pravic, tells Ketho that they are all “children of time.” Calling him brother, he urges Ketho to call Anarres on the radio and inform them that he’ll be coming to stay, hoping that in offering Ketho a chance to live on Anarres he will be giving him a gift, a promise, and a risk.

The following night, Shevek paces through the garden in starlight. He looks out the windows at Anarres, wondering if Takver will be at the Port when he lands. The last time he spoke with Bedap, he had asked Bedap to decide together with Takver whether it would be safe for her to meet the Davenant at its landing. Bedap had told Shevek he wouldn’t be able to stop her even if it wasn’t safe.

The commander of the ship walks in with Ketho, and the two announce that they have obtained the entry pattern from the Anarresti ground control. The commander tells Shevek that as soon as he is ready, they will begin their descent, and Shevek tells the commander to go ahead with the launch procedure. Shevek asks Ketho if he is completely sure that he wants to breach the wall. Shevek is coming home, but Ketho will be leaving home, and though the true journey of any leaving is the return, return may be difficult. Ketho concedes that he hopes to return home, in time.

Shevek looks out the window again, watching as the sun begins to rise. He thinks excitedly of how he will lie down to sleep tonight on his home planet, safe beside Takver and their children. He wishes he had a souvenir to give to Pilun, but he has not brought anything from Urras at all; his hands are “empty, as they [have] always been.”