Sunday, January 21, 2018
The Left Hand of Darkness; Wave 1
Genly Ai struggles to understand the Gethenians as they see themselves when he describes them as being either a man or woman because in Winter gender isn't important. In chapter 8, Genly hears that the king's son is pregnant which he finds funny because the world he comes from women can only get pregnant. Other men on Winter found it funny also but for a different reason which was because the king's son is too old to be having a kid. Also when Genly is talking to Shusgis for the first time, Shusgis mentions how he was once pregnant which causes Genly to be confused because he couldn't picture him being a pregnant woman because of he was a "hard shrewd jovial politician" . This reveals that gender plays a big role in what Genly thinks about the Gethenians. He automatically judges them for being a man and pregnant because it's not normal for Genly to see or hear that since he comes from a place where men don't have babies. There are more parts as to where Genly doesn't understand the Gethenians as they see themselves but that just reveals the differences between his world and Winter.
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Hi Juliet, I really agree with your post because it is exactly what I was thinking and it really does make sense. As humans living on Earth, we judge almost everything by gender, even our pets are identified by gender, kids have imaginary friends with specific genders, so clearly, being human Genley Ai always thinks gender. It must be so completely strange for him to go to some place where gender is nonexistent. Genley gets so confused when he is talking to someone who he believes is a man, but finds out they have had babies. It is so strange to even imagine being stuck in a place like that.
ReplyDeleteHey juliet, I feel that that we view this society as weord. It is pretty crazy because there is no such thing as a gay person or a lesbian. There is no sexual orientation or preference. This gives me a different outlook on how people view those who stand out of society. It makes me wonder why are things the way theu are? How can it be that their normal is opposite from our normal. Imagine being in a whole new world with people who have opposite morals from those back home. That would be like crazy. Everything seems to be pretty turned around and honestly I would start to be very confused.
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