"SQ"

“SQ”

Ursula Leguin

            “As soon as I began to understand the SQ Test Plan I began to believe in it. That was true of everybody in the office and in the Bureau. Dr. Speakie’s sincerity and scientific enthusiasm were infectious. Right from the beginning we had to take the test every quarter, of course, and some of the secretaries used to be nervous before they took it, but I never was. It was so obvious that the Test was right” (194).

            This passage is essential to the meaning of the story because the narrator, Mary Ann Smith directly states her feelings about the test. In the beginning of the story, she takes the time to praise Dr. Speakie for inventing such a revolutionary test of insanity. She is thrilled to be able to meet such an inventive man. In a way, she seems like a teenage girl who has her first crush. It sounds juvenile, but she can’t stop talking about how great and amazing he is. In this passage, she cannot suppress her positive feelings about the test. This makes me, as a reader, question her validity as a narrator. She is so persuasive that it almost seems like she is trying to justify it to herself. If she talks enough positivity, maybe it will be good in the end. It reminded me of the people in infomercials who are so over-the-top enthusiastic and energetic that you know it’s fake, and rehearsed. The story is told after she is able to take over the company and the world. This adds to the effect of it being a rehearsed scenario where she is trying to exploit the benefits of a flawed system. In the end, when Dr. Speakie takes the test and finds himself to be insane, she has to run the world in his place. I think she realizes that there are many flaws in this system. However, she has to be in charge because she is the only one left and she cannot accept defeat. Advertising the system is propaganda and she knows it.

            My interpretation of this story is that people need to be free to think for themselves. People should not blindly accept that they are insane because of one test. If people measured intelligence by SAT scores or GPA’s, the world would judge a lot of people for being stupid. One test cannot determine your mental health or intelligence. I think Ursula LeGuin is fighting for people to stand up and fight on their own behalf. She wants a revolution in which people are no longer blind, obedient observers. She wants active participants who can advocate for their needs, wants, and desires. She refuses to allow societal rules and customs dictate her fate.