There are a few themes represented in Ursula K. Le Guin's The Word for World is Forest. Anti-colonization, anti-militarism, care for the environment, indigenous rights, pacifism, and resistance are all themes of Le Guin's novel.

These themes are interwoven into the story as the peaceful, environmentally minded Athsheans are colonized by the aggressive and imperialistic Terrans. The Athsheans are indigenous to their homeland of Athshe and are intricately connected to their lands. They prioritize caring for their environment. When the Terrans invade the Athsheans' homeland, they establish a military-controlled logging enterprise that severely damages the Athshean ecology. Le Guin, who was outspoken against the military invasion of South Vietnam by the United States, presents this anti-military stance through her novel.

While the Athsheans are a pacifistic people, they eventually must resist the invasion and force the Terrans off their planet. The story displays an admiration for the Athsheans' pacifistic society, and at the same time, Le Guin presents the resistance by the Athsheans as a powerful and necessary response to colonization. The colonizer/colonized dynamic between the Terrans and the Athsheans is incredibly similar to the colonization of indigenous peoples around the world by European nations and the United States. Le Guin was a staunch proponent of defending the rights of indigenous peoples and was also staunchly against colonization and imperialism. These themes are certainly represented in this novel as the indigenous Athsheans struggle to preserve their culture, homeland, and autonomy.