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A character in The Dispossessed

Saio Pae

Saio Pae is an A-Ioti physicist assigned to work with and monitor Shevek.

The book

Cover of The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
The DispossessedUrsula K. Le Guin, 1974

Two opposed societies reveal how revolutionary ideals can harden into conformity without becoming simple villains.

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Who they are in the book

Spoiler-free

Saio Pae is an A-Ioti physicist assigned to work with and monitor Shevek. He is polished, intelligent, loyal to the state, and alert to the value of Shevek’s theory. Shevek comes to distrust him because Pae’s friendliness never separates from political calculation. Pae survives Shevek’s departure from the university; the novel does not describe what consequences he faces after the theory is released to all worlds.

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