Standing Ground Ursula Le Guin Analysis

As with most authors, Ursula Le Guin bases most of her stories and novels on her beliefs and disbeliefs. She is an atheist and relies more on philosophy than religion. Perhaps that is why "Standing Ground," a story that deals with abortion, was written with no objectivity. Le Guin had no religious beliefs interfering with her intended theme. Many of her stories are based on Taoism, where there is good in every evil and evil in every good. In her writings, Le Guin addresses enduring human problems.
She also likes to write about children and their search for identity. Le Guin believes that to become an adult, an individual must "find ways of realizing the great potential in the unknown (Heller 1451)." "Standing Ground" is about a girl
This is the preconceived notion that the demonstrators and the clinic workers have about Delaware. Every adult that Delaware interacts with in the story assumes that she was irresponsible, made a reckless decision w h a boy, and is now pregnant. These assumptions not only anger Delaware, but hurt her as well. Little do these "adults" realize that she is here to support her mother, nor do they bother to find out before assuming. Delaware's true strength and matur y shines through every time she calmly lets others know that it is Sharee who is pregnant. After finding out that they were mistaken, not a single "adult" is mature enough to apologize. Furthermore, they continue to talk to Delaware as if she is a chi
. Heller notes on Le Guin that "in order to become an adult, one must find ways of realizing the potential of the unknown (1451)." Neither the demonstrators nor the clinic workers took into consideration the unknown possibly that Delaware was there for reasons other than a bad decision. Delaware faces the unknown on a daily basis while caring for Sharee; thus by Le Guin's standards, she is the only true adult in the story, and therefor stronger that any antagonist that she