Monday, February 5, 2018

One of the short stories that was really my favorite was the one about the Romero and Juliet love affair. I was hooked on it from the beginning and it was a page turner. It really broke my heart how he had died at the end and she just threw his body. What a dang shame. I know how each short story is suppose to tie in with the main story however I never really understood how that short story connected with the main story. I have a feeling it might be with how estroven and ai was kind of flirty. It was almost like it was Romero and Juliet. Especially how ai has hated Estraven for a good part of the book and then it was almost like he started gaining feelings for her or him.

The Place Inside the Blizzard


The Place Inside the Blizzard is perhaps the biggest folktale, in terms of the effect it has on Gethenian lives. The folktale helps explain the Gethenian laws and beliefs. When the two brothers vow kimmering even after having a kid, they break the law. As things continue one brother commits suicide and the other is blamed and chased out of Hearth. After being chased, the other falls into a temporary state in between life and death where the brother who has committed suicide is stuck at.  This story shows why Gethenians believe vowing to kimmer after having offspring is a bad thing. It is believe that by vowing kimmering a pair may get too attached and do irrational things such as suicide. Kimmering is looked at as a basic function of reproduction in Gethen, not as an act of affection for one another. The folktale also shows how large suicide is in Gethenian culture. In Gethen suicide is among the most formidable things in the culture. In the folktale, the fear of being trapped in that in between state of life and death may scare them out of suicide, and furthermore, vowing kimmering. When there is a suicide in the community, the burden is on the whole society because Gethenians are supposed to be all for their community and have honor. Which is also explained in the folktale as the city suffers and famine hits as long as the runaway brother is alive. When the brother dies, the city’s bad luck ends also.
Of the myths and folktales in the book that i thought was very important to choose was  The Question of Sex and kt was one of the most interesting ones to me. Im pretty sure that most people who were reading the book were having so many questions about it. I think this was one of most important ones because we needed to know about kemmering. Which is when or becomes the male or the female during sex. It is told in the point of view like an investigator and it is very interesting. The Gethenians had to adapt to many conditions over the times. The weather affected a lot of the children who were boring because of he very cold weather; King Argaven’s child was one of them. These Getheniana cherish their life and take it really seriously. Not everyone gets a chance to live past a certain age so they try their best to survive.

The Question of Sex

Of the Gethenian myths and folklore shared in the story, I found The Question of Sex to be one of the most intriguing stories. It's told from the point of view of an investigator, another human like Genly, yet holds importance in its explanations. The investigator takes note on how Gethen became a cold, undesirable planet to live on from a warmer planet like Earth and left the Gethenians had to  adapt to the has conditions at hand over time. They also discuss how kemmer takes place only from the 23rd to 28th day of the month, leaving the possibility of anyone being a mother or a father for the rest of the days. I found both pieces of information interesting because we see the negative side effects of Gethen's environment when King Argaven's child died not long after birth, most likely having been due to to the cold. It's also a factor that leads many Gethenians to honor life more as not everyone gets to live into adulthood and may be one of the reasons why suicide is such a shame of an action. Kemmer in itself has fascinated me because it has made it virtually impossible for anyone to be sexually shamed for an action. Everyone is treated the same and has equal opportunity while not having to be tied down by sexual repression or needs for the majority of the month and has allowed Gethen to develop some of the societies Genly comes to take note of throughout the book. Overall, I feel the equity found on Gethen is what makes the book feel as alien to us as it does to Genly. Genly is generally sexist in many of the observations he makes, but it’s because he comes from our society where women and men have come to have expected gender roles. With Gethen, we're given a place where a king can be pregnant and people have been able to settle with their own customs and culture without gender becoming a limitation on what can be done. Maybe a little gender fluidity is all we need to innovate and expand in the same ways some day.

Brotherly Love

In chapter 2, The Place Inside the Blizzard on page 23, there is a story about two brothers whose names were Hode and Getheren. They aren't ordinary brothers, these bros fall in love during kemmer. In Winter, bros normally just commit kemmer with feelings unattached. The rules in Winter state that brothers can stay in kemmer, a sexually active state, until the female brother produces an off spring. This shows that incest is okay and common in their culture and that loving your brother sexually is also ok and having kids with your brother is also ok! However, the rule also states that you also must drop and forget about the bro after the deed is done and you can't vow kemmer or "marry" your brother. This makes the Gethenian community similar to ours because it is also illegal to marry your brother here in California. However, Hode and Getheren decided to vow kemmer and Lord Shath tells  them to separate. Then, Home decides to commit suicide which is also against the law in Winter.  It is also illegal in California too! These all relate to the real world and also connects back to the plot because later on we find out that Estraven had a relationship with his brother who was his first and real vow.  The Gethenian culture is filled with craziness and lots of brotherly love. The myth continues and explains that Hode goes to a land where people go after they commit suicide.  Getheren finds him, and Hode asks him to stay but he refuses because Hode broke the promise when he committed suicide.  Home tries to hold Getheren back but he manages to escape and he deals with a injury and has to amputate his left arm. This can also relate to the book in general because the book is called The Left Hand of Darkness.

estraven and stokven


One folktale I really found interesting was the one about estraven and stokven. It is surprising to see that two sworn mortal enemies can come together in such of an event of life and death. Even more surprising to read that they ended up falling in love, so much that they were willing to betray their nations by seeing each other and even kemering together. I think that it describes the Genthenian culture as caring because even though the two nations were in conflict and swore to be enemies, the two princes from each side looked beyond that and still found love.