The Dispossessed

Takver, Shevek’s wife, is tall, thin, and not particularly pretty. She has a “swarthy, intelligent” and happy face that features dark, deep eyes. She wears her hair short as a teenager, to reflect her rebelliousness, but grows it out, as is conventional, once she reaches adulthood. Upon meeting Shevek in the youth dormitory before his departure to Abbenay, she is immediately captivated, but she is forlorn when he doesn’t recognize her or seem to feel a connection as they cross paths in Abbenay. She is a biologist who specializes in cultivating marine life in Anarres’ difficult environment. An idealist, she encourages Shevek to pursue his ideas and passions to their logical ends, regardless of the consequences for their family.

Bedap, Shevek’s childhood friend, is heavyset and square-faced. As a boy, he believes that Urras is an unhealthy organism, and says that Anarres must be separate, lest the Anarresti risk infection. As a teenager, Shevek finds him “secretive”; it is implied that his skepticism of society is growing. As an adult, he comes to see Anarresas infected. He is hostile towards the PDC, which he believes had undo power over Anarresti. He believes public opinion has taken on the function of government, repressing the individual mind and will. He is homosexual, and rekindles his trust with Shevek during a week spent living together. After their many exchanges, he remains dogmatic and rebellious, but joins with Shevek to found the Syndicate of Initiative, and he frequently debates with the PDC. 

Tirin is Shevek and Bedap’s childhood friend. He has a “dark, snub-nosed face” (43), and is described as sensitive and vulnerable. A playwright, he puts on a production satirizing Urras, in which an Urrasti makes his way to Anarres and struggles to adjust to its customs; he tries to pay a woman for sex and wants to turn all contact into exchange of money for services and goods. He plays the Urrasti himself. When Anarresti are scandalized, he collapses under the shame, and after being assigned to several work postings, he is posted to Segvina Island, an asylum. Bedap speculates that this posting is not voluntary. From the asylum, he continues to re-write the same play over and over. He rejoins society when Bedap and Shevek found the Syndicate of Initiative and publish his play.

Sabul is a “small, stocky, slovenly man” (103). He has dark facial hair and is unkempt in dress and appearance. He is the premier physicist at the Central Institute of the Sciences, but most of his work is merely translation of Urrasti texts; he is not an original thinker. He seeks to pass off Shevek’s work as his own, refusing to publish volumes or send them to Urras without his name attached. As Shevek becomes more independent, Sabul’s efforts to thwart him from publishing and teaching worsen.

Rulag, Shevek’s mother, is a “handsome,” tall woman who wears her age lightly (121). She leaves Shevek and his father when Shevek is just an infant to prioritize her work, and tells Shevek that for her, work has always come first. As a member of the PDC, she is staunchly opposed to the activities of the Syndicate of Initiative.

Shevek’s servant, Efor, is a man in his fifties. His face shows his age and his suffering. At first, he is reluctant to speak to or engage with Shevek—especially because he knows the rooms are bugged. However, during Shevek’s illness, he begins to open up. He describes the death of his daughter in a hospitaland reveals the terrible conditions that the poor of A-Io endure. 

Pae is Shevek’s escort in Nio, and an agent of the Ioti government. He is likeable and adept at his job of keeping Shevek contained to the University. However, beneath his likeability lurks untrustworthiness.

Chifoilisk is an agent of the State of Thu. Like Pae, he is likeable. He warns Shevek against Pae, and encourages him to come to Thu, a socialist state. However, shortly after their conversation, he is made to return to Thu. 

Oiie lives in the suburbs of Nio with his wife and two children in a modest, minimalist home. At work, he is quiet and secretive. At home, he appears as a “simple, brotherly man…a free man” (147).