To Be Considered Men

What really stood out to me when I first started reading The Word For World is Forest was the initial idea of ‘men.” It was interesting to see how the majority of both sides had a specific view of what it took to be considered ‘men” or human. The Terrans believed you had to be them (human) to be considered ‘men.’ If not you were considered humanoid. The Athsheans believed you were ‘men’ if you came from the same origin as them or acted in some way like ‘men.’ Say if you walked and talked…etc. The pieces of the text at the beginning of the story that provide an in depth view of this idea of ‘men’ are largely seen first by Davidson (Terran) then Selver (Athshean).

Captain Davidson essentially believes himself an image of what ‘men’ should be; strong, trained, virile, and intelligent. In his eyes, and many of those on Tahiti, the Athsheans were not human enough.  They weren’t considered men. Therefore, Athsheans were given no respect and many were exploited cruelly. The Athsheans were the complete opposite. They recognized Terrans as the same species and ‘men’ like themselves. Therefore, they treated them like they’d treat their own, as intelligent and peaceful. Even when they were exploited they never fought back against their mistreatment, until Selver changed things. Selver believed those who could murder so easily could not be ‘men.’ As a result, the Athsheans did not view Terrans as ‘men’ anymore and learned to fight back and kill them. You can really see from this just how much the idea of ‘men’ shifts in the beginning of the story.