The Nineteenth Day

I felt that reading chapter four, The Nineteenth Day, was the most interesting folktale/myth that was introduced in the book going along with the main storyline. It provided supplemental info (backstory) on the Foretellers that is spoken about in the previous chapter, chapter three, The Mad King. At first, I was very confused on how the Foreteller thing worked but I thought of the Hobbit and used that as a reference. Chapter four takes place on the nineteenth day and is the story of and Herbor and Berosty who are kemmering partners that get together to get "down and dirty." The two of them visit the Foretellers for information and are told that Lord Berosty will die on the 19th day of any month (a prophecy) and Berosty is fearful for when he was going to die. Unknowingly, Herbor goes to see the Fortellers to offer his life in exchange for Lord Berosty and the Foretellers grant his request. Once Lord Berosty finds out of the events that have occurred, the lord is then fueled with rage and becomes the Hulk and terrorizes...whoops, wrong story. Berosty actually gets angry and hits Herbor over the head with a table and he instantly dies. Once he realized what he had done and his guilt ate him from the inside out, he decided to hang himself and put an end to the pain he felt. With Lord Berosty killing himself, it fulfilled the prophecy and died on the 19th day. Prophecies are always bad, no matter the outcome. This myth tells us that Gethenian culture is very superstitious because they believe in prophecies with astronomical consequences. This myth makes direct connections with the plot because it foreshadows what happens in chapter five in regards to Genly speaking with the Foretellers and bumping into Faxe the Weaver. In chapter five, it is said that "in the end, we all die."  The idea of predicting what will happen in the future is an on-going theme throughout the book, having a premonition of an outcome when they have no idea the cause. I really enjoyed this chapter because even though it was kind of hard to follow, it was very interesting.

Isolation and Union

Gethen's frigid weather contributing to the theme of isolation and how it contradicts Gethenian Principle

In the novel, the planet, Winter, is constantly described as being "cold and frozen over." Winter wouldn't be called Winter if it was unusually hot for 90% of the time. The people of Winter, Gethenianians specifically, have adapted to the frigid weather and are accustomed to slight incremental changes but prefer their bitter-cold environment.  The constant frigid climate of Winter contributes to the theme of isolation and loneliness because, throughout the book, Genly is making it his mission to adapt to the many changes that this planet continues to throw at him, especially the weather and with this he feels alienated, as if he is a freak or "alien." When Genly came to Winter, he was afraid, afraid of all that was not normal to him.  As a whole, the principles and practices of Gethenian culture are QUITE different from our own, for example, the process of Kemmer. I bring this up because I find it very interesting how when the climate is described thoroughly, it is always sad, and depressing; this feeling of isolation because there is simply nothing you can do about how severely cold the weather is. Kemmer seems to contradict the feeling of loneliness because when Kemmer is described, it is a beautiful aspect of nature taking care of itself, even though it occurs every 3 or so weeks, everyone in Gethen participates in it. The cycle keeps going. Kemmer contributes to the theme of unity, warmth, beauty, and love which is a direct juxtaposition of the theme of loneliness and isolation presented from how cold the weather is. When the process of Kemmer takes place, two subjects (with consent) prepare for what is to occur and go from being isolated and alone to being united as one. Kemmer brings the lonely people of Gethen together. 

[KC]: LHoD WAVE THREE Discussion Question

Wave Three:

Here comes the prompt for the third wave of blogging for The Left Hand of Darkness. Wave Three Bloggers must post in response to this prompt by 6:00 p.m. on Monday, February 5.  As before, anyone can comment on any post (Wave 1, 2, or 3), so by the time the unit is complete, you should have posted once, and commented twice. Remember, we are always looking for students who are working ABOVE AND BEYOND the minimum requirements.

Reflect on the myths presented in the various chapters of Left Hand of Darkness. Consider them as little symbolic parables and consider the following: What does this myth tell you about Gethen culture? However, some of the myths do have direct connections to the plot, especially the ones about Estraven. Discuss some of the Gethenian myths and folktales. Find one to discuss—the Place Inside the Blizzard, the Nineteenth Day, etc. How do such stories function in a culture?

Reminder, your post should be between 250-300 words long. Anything shorter will not be effective. Also, include page numbers when you reference the text.

Who shall post: Cameron Minor, Jazlyn Parra, Kali Snyder, Caitlin Ramos, Joana Rodriguez, Arturo Sanchez, Kylie Sivard, Skyler Swearingen, Bryan Ta, Briauna Thompson, Andrew Venegas

#TheStruggleIsReal

The cold of Winter is a constant reminder of how isolated and lonely Genly Ai feels. Genly is alien to the planet, so his body was not made to endure its extremely low temperatures. Because of this, he is always layering up, which makes him even more noticeable to the citizens. Since Gethenian bodies are adapted to the frigid temperatures, they do not understand how severe the weather feels to him, again, making him feel like an outsider. I noticed that when writers are writing about a sad topic, they often make the setting gloomy to evoke our emotions and force us to picture said gloomy setting. To build on the theme of loneliness, Genly is, as I said, an alien to Winter; therefore, he is not accustomed to their androgynous society. To further explain Genly’s isolation, his mind is so used to the typical “male” and “female” way of life, that he never fully grasps and holds the idea that nobody he meets is specifically male or female, causing him to feel out of place in this cold society. “Cold society” referring to both the weather and attitudes of the people. Another character that adds to the theme of isolation is Estraven because he is banished from Karhide and is forced to live in isolation from his child and everyone/everything he ever knew. In chapter two, the setting, for the most part, is in the freezing cold and includes Getheran going “... alone through the storm.” and the imagery of his limbs becoming frostbitten (pg. 25)

The Attempt 

Genly Ai's struggles to see the Gethenians as they see themselves was when he went to an unknown planet that people are considered to be neither male or female. Also, Genly is used to call the Gethenians as he or she because on Genly’s planet which is basically like Earth, that is the universal law to be either male or female. On Gethan, the people are not considered female or male and Genly hasn’t really gotten over the matter of looking at Gethenians and not worrying about calling them a male or female. Genly just accept their tradition and he categorize because that’s what seems normal for him. However, for the Gethenians' point of view, they don’t see each other as female or male until their kemmer season, they see each other as just regular humans beings. They ignore their gender and focus more at each other with their souls. Not being able to accept this causes a culture board for him in a sense, but what also cause a culture board is the fact that Genly seems to be more like a real life human (like from our reality, you know from Earth) which causes Gethenians to also not accept him, they see him as a pervert because he’s a male full time. Genly’s attitudes reveal about his world is that it’s more like ours and that their used to identifying each other as male or female. When he identify a female she and a male he, Genly knows how and what to talk about with them.

To be alone

The constant cold on Gethen is something that the inhabitants of the planet have adapted and gotten used to. Since Genly is an alien, the cold affects him more than anyone else. This often serves to further how much of an outsider he is, which leads to him feeling out of place and alone. Since he does not originally come from a planet that is as cold as Gethen, he feels cold in times where others think of the weather as a nice spring day (page 20). He has no one that truly understands how much he suffers from it all. On Earth, places that are freezing cold are abandoned and undesirable, often making people think of loneliness when trying to picture it. People are miserable when they are freezing, and sometimes they can feel hopeless and all alone in certain situations. This, I believe, is how Genly feels all the time on Gethen. The cold makes him feel uncomfortable and isolated from everyone around him. No matter how many layers he puts on, the constant reminder that he does not belong there will always be present, such as when he was put in that van and the others sought him out as one of the weakest there (page 170). Another instance of Genly being treated as weak was when he arrived in Orgoreyn and was treated as if he was pregnant due to how susceptible to the cold he is (page 117). While it did help him to stay warm, it still no doubt made him even more isolated than before.

[KC]: LHoD WAVE TWO Discussion Question

Wave Two:

Here comes the prompt for the second wave of blogging for The Left Hand of Darkness. Wave Two Bloggers must post in response to this prompt by 6:00 p.m. on Monday, January 29.  As before, anyone can comment on any post (Wave 1, 2, or 3), so by the time the unit is complete, you should have posted once, and commented twice. Remember, we are always looking for students who are working ABOVE AND BEYOND the minimum requirements.

How does the constant cold of Gethen contribute to the theme of isolation and loneliness?

Reminder, your post should be between 250-300 words long. Anything shorter will not be effective. Also, include page numbers when you reference the text.

Who shall post:
Paige Foy, Valerie Gamboa, Michael Garcia, Corea Hatcher, Franqui Herrera, Jasy Johnson, Heather Laughlin, Stephen Le, Emily Martin Del Campo, Noa Melendez