Background: Ursula LeGuin is the author of many works, most notably works in science fiction, but also including children's works, poetry, and criticism . If there is a common theme to her writings, it consists in the careful, almost loving, use of language to disrupt and challenge our common assumptions about reality. For additional information about LeGuin and her work, go to the “unofficial Ursula LeGuin page.” See also a recent interview where she discusses her gradual appropriation of a feminist perspective.
The title of this work refers to an imaginative “thought experiment” proposed by Erwin Schroedinger, wherein a cat plays at the macroscopic level the role of the “superposition” of an electron at the sub-atomic level, thereby portraying with glaring starkness the odd claims about reality being made in contemporary quantum physics. For an interesting “tutorial” about quantum mechanics which ends up with an imaginative illustration of this through-experiment, go to this location at the Science and Spirit web site. An English translation of Schroedinger’s original essay proposing this thought-experiment may be read at this link. Click on the following link to read a recent editorial from a major American newspaper on quantum physics.
Discussion questions:
What does the opening sequence (293), where the narrator meets a man and his wife (who is “falling apart”), tell you about this story? When or where is it happening?
What does the fact that things were getting hot (294) suggest? What is indicated by those who attempt to “study” the phenomenon of hot stove burners (that are not turned on)? What do you make of the birds (and then worms and children) that moved at scorchingly fast speeds? (295)
Who (or what) is the mailman? (295f) Is it really a dog? What evidence from the story would you offer to support your judgment?
Explain the point behind the Gedankenexperiment (296) proposed by Schrödinger’s reflection on the “reality” of a cat placed in a specially prepared box. [Recall the strange character of sub-atomic matter as described earlier this semester by Davies.] What is the point behind the phrase, “God plays dice,” (297) for this story?
Did the narrator or the “mailman” ever put the cat in the box? (297) Does it matter for this story? How did the cat eventually get in the box? Once the cat was in the box, was the cat dead or alive? Could anyone know? How?
What possible meaning does the roof being raised (298) from the house (where the “mailman” and the narrator were considering the cat in the box) have in relation to the story as a whole?
Do you see any significance in the final paragraph, where the narrator identifies the sound as the note A?
After having read the story, quickly write down what you know about the narrator. Then go back to the story to try find passages that support your impression. Did you think the narrator was male or female? Young or old? What did the narrator do for a living? Where was the narrator living while the story was being told?
Does this story have anything to do with the basic theme of this step, images of ultimate reality? Whoever proposes a plausible rationale for including this story in this section wins a pizza dinner on me.
