Wave 3

In the novel, Left Hand of Darkness, the author tells many stories that the Gethenian culture holds. One of the stories I found the most interesting was the “The Nineteenth Day”. It was about a man who saved up to ask the foretellers about his death. He asked the question, “on what day shall I die”. The foretellers then proceeded to tell him that he will die on Odstreth, but never told him a day or month. The man then lived life in suffering. This legend told the reader to not make the same mistake as him, which is to be specific when asking the foretellers a question. This legend also served a purpose which was to educate the reader about the foretellers before Genly paid a visit to them. Genly was very specific when asking them a question and he got an answer. Another story that helped educate the reader was “The Place inside the Blizzard”. This was about two brothers who vowed kemmering to each other. However, they were forced to break their vow and one brother committed suicide which forced the other to go into exile. This educated the reader of some things that are very forbidden in Gethenian culture, which is suicide and vowing kemmer with a sibling. I also think the author included this story to foreshadow what we learn about Estraven`s past. The author uses dialogue to tell that Estraven has vowed kemmering before. Estraven also brings up his brother a lot, yet we never meet him. I think that this story is the same thing that Estraven experienced. Estraven vowed kemmering with his brother, yet it was forbidden and his brother committed suicide.