Anarchism among the Dispossessed and The Games PlayerUrsula Le Guin's masterpiece The Dispossessed and Iain Bank's The Games Player are both novels science fiction that illustrate themes of anarchism. Anarchism is based on the idea that individuals are responsible for their own behavior; hierarchical authority is detrimental to maximum human potential (Jaeckle). The Dispossessed presents an ideal model of anarchism through the functions of the planet Anarres. Le Guin's masterpiece, The Dispossessed, attracted an incredible amount of critical focus after its publication in 1974. Le Guin signals both his disbelief in the simplifications of trust in capitalist democratic systems of the Cold War and yet its anarchist utopia is still an ambiguous model of trust coming from a strong social society. dynamic. Bank's novel The Player of Games is part of The Culture series. The series is a space opera of a magnificent level. The Player of Games is set in a galaxy spanning an anarchist culture from the distant future; the novel features strong, authentic characters, difficult ethical dilemmas, and recurring dark humor. One of the most important aspects of culture is the fact that there are no laws, which indicates that it is a form of anarchy. Ursula Le Guin and Iain Banks imply that anarchism is the best social option through the comparison of an anarchist society to another society in their novels; Le Guin compares the anarchist society of Anarres to the capitalist society of Urras while Banks compares the anarchist society of Culture to the society of the Empire of Azad. Le Guin creates a traditional anarchist society on the planet Anarres. Many of his ideas are taken from Bakunin and Kropotkin; Le Guin desires a society without the three... middle of paper ......ast in the functioning of societies. Azad is an empire; for most members of society, it is unfair and demanding (Lammi). The elite rule the people of Azad. Cultural society strives for perfection. In The Dispossessed, Anarres is the protagonist society like Culture. Both Bank's and Le Guin provide the negatives of anarchist societies; however, they also make it clear that anarchist society is preferable to their peer societies. Through the characters of Shevek and Jernau, they describe why anarchist societies would be preferable since life in Azad and Urras is not at all attractive. The characters experience ethical struggles and oppression, making their preference obvious. Ursula Le Guin and Iain Banks promoted anarchist societies by making these societies the preferable choice over defined dystopian societies..