How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)
Quote #4
"You're of a peculiarly passive outlook for a man brought up in the Judeo-Christian-Rationalist West. A sort of natural Buddhist. Have you ever studied the Eastern mysticisms, George?" The last question, with its obvious answer, was an open sneer. (6.65)
It's interesting that we get to see several moments when other characters react negatively to the idea of eastern religions or philosophies. These sorts of beliefs were explicitly linked with hippies during the '60s and '70s. Why do you think Ursula Le Guin shows characters reacting negatively to these views?
Quote #5
Those who have returned in pure compassion to the wheel, those who follow the way that cannot be followed without knowing they follow it, the sharecropper's wife in Alabama and the lama in Tibet and the entomologist in Peru and the millworker in Odessa and the greengrocer in London and the goatherd in Nigeria and the old, old man sharpening a stick by a dry streambed somewhere in Australia, and all the others. There is not one of us who has not known them. There are enough of them, enough to keep us going. Perhaps. (7.96)
Heather Lelache is wondering if there are other people like George. There are a ton of things to talk about here, but let's look at that wheel for a moment. The wheel that Heather is talking about is probably the wheel of time or history (Kalachakra) found in Hinduism and Buddhism. It is a symbol of how time is cyclical, meaning that it continually repeats itself in different forms. Oh, and that way that cannot be followed? That's Taoism, of course. So is Heather right? Is time cyclical in this novel? What happens when Dr. Haber changes history? Do patterns continue to repeat?
Quote #6
"So what? Maybe that's all it's ever been! Whatever it is, it's all right. You don't suppose you'd be allowed to do anything you weren't supposed to do, do you? Who the hell do you think you are! There is nothing that doesn't fit, nothing happens that isn't supposed to happen. Ever! What does it matter whether you call it real or dreams? It's all one— isn't it?" (7.143)
You might be tempted to think that this is George, but based on the number of exclamation marks and curse words, it's obvious that it's Heather speaking here. You can't force things to happen, she says, and things that are not supposed to happen will not happen. Is that what happens in this story? Bad things sure do happen, but then everything does turn out all right—for everyone except Dr. Haber, that is. So is the Taoist philosophy vindicated?
As for the distinction between reality and dreams? There's a Taoist story about a man who dreams he is a butterfly, and the question arises: which is real? The man or the butterfly? How does anyone actually know?