Deplorable Word word itself, and had vowed that none of them, nor their descendants, would seek to discover it. Jadis said she had "learned it in a secret place and paid a terrible price to learn it". The book does not say what that price was, or give further details on the Deplorable Word. Lewis does not explicitly link the Deplorable Word to any specific weapon of mass destruction, but he alludes to the power of humanity to destroy life. Writing in 1955 in the midst of the Cold War, Lewis has the lion Aslan say to the central characters from the
The Word for World Is Forest peace between the Athshean people and humanity, he is not the savior of their race, and he does not survive to claim any "prize" from it. Additionally, in "The Word for World is Forest" militarism is regarded by the Athsheans – especially Selver – as an unfortunate but necessary addition to Athshean culture, and one that may destroy their way of life. In contrast, militarism is seen less critically in "Avatar." In the introduction to the second volume of the Hainish Novels & Stories, Le Guin signals the similarities with "a high-budget, highly successful film" which "completely reverses the book's