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the wizard of earthsea
does anyone know how this book relates to the history or culture during the time it was made?
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Ah, a tricky question about an excellent book by one of my favorite authors.
Ursula K. LeGuin doesn't deal in critiques of contemporary history or culture (at least not in her novels. Her short story "Intracom" is one of the funniest Star Trek parodies I've ever read.). Her Earthsea stories don't reflect contemporary society or history. They do reflect her lifelong interest in mythology, anthropology and psychology (her parents were anthropologists), as well as her opinions about wizards.
LeGuin is part of what's called the "New Wave" of science fiction writers who appeared in the late 1950s and '60s. Philip K. Dick, Harlan Ellison, R.A Lafferty, and David Gerrold were all contemporaries. New Wave writers deal less with new technology and more with the impact technology has on peoples' lives. They also deal more with "soft sciences" like psychology and sociology.
Le Guin is telling a coming-of-age story in this book. She's also engaging in the same world-building exercises that Tolkien and C.S. Lewis did, and offering her opinions about wizards. Compare Ged to Gandalf: Gandalf is very much a man of action, as likely to wield a sword in battle as to work magic. Ged is much calmer, more willing to let things work out by themselves and is much more reluctant to use magic for fear of throwing the world out of balance. Read the discussion with Estarriol's sister and you'll get a good sense of Le Guin's approach to magic.
So Earthsea is not a critique of contemporary culture per se. It is a very good book, however, as are the other books in the series. I would also recommend her Annals of the Western Shore series for young adults, and her short story collections and novels for readers of any age. (The Lathe of Heaven will blow your mind.)
Hope this helps.
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