At the beginning of Left Hand of Darkness, Genly Ai admits that he is "still far from being able to see the people of the planet through their own eyes." (12) He has been on this planet for two years and for some reason he can't seem to accept the differences from this and his own world and continues to categorize them in categories "essential" to where he comes from. When he observes the Gethenians, he can't help but refer to them as "he" and "him," only referring to women characteristics if they are negative ("laughing shrilly like an angry woman"). The first thing we know is that Genly comes from a world where people have a permanent gender, whereas the Gethenians have no set gender. It also shows that he may come from a world where women are seen as inferior. He only refers to women as mean, ignorant and weak.
He also has trouble trying to understand kemmer. We understand that in his world, they have a permanent gender and also a permanent spouse. In Gethen, they go through kemmer with another person, then temporarily receiving female or male genitals, possibly having a child, and then going back to a gender-free world.
One other reference that shows us something about Genlys world is when Estraven days "And you, who come from a world that outgrew nations centuries ago, who hardly know what I'm talking about, who show us the new road..." (19) shows that his world has war. War isn't something that unusual, but in Gethen, it is.
Why is it so hard for Genly to adapt to this world, even after being there for two years? He "longed for anonymity, for sameness" (8) yet it doesn't seem like he'll adapt any time soon.
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Sameness
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
"Why is it so hard for Genly to adapt to this world, even after being there for two years?"
ReplyDeleteI think that you overestimate the human, especially adults, ability to adapt to a new culture over short time period. The thing about culture is that, once you get use to one of them, it's extremely difficult to give it up, or adapt to a completely different one. Now, I don't know about your life's situation, but I am guessing that you never live in a place where it's radically different from where you grew up with before. Sure, two years might get you accustom to the language, food, climate, etc., but when it came to something so different that it go against everything you used to believe in, you definitely will not be able to adjust to it within a few years. Let's say we drop you in a middle of middle east or Africa, I can assure you, you will ask for more than two years to adapt. Besides, Genly is not a teenager or a children who can easily adapt to a new place, but rather an adult who live nearly half of his life accustom to fairly homogeneous nature.
Also, you mention kemmer and Gethenians' biology regarding their gender. I think this is one of those things where it might be more effective if you read it when it first came out (1969). At that time, things regarding sexuality that differed from the norms are considered taboo, and thus looked down upon. In 2016 Southern California, we read this book with the mind of someone who grew up with fairly tolerant society, so the concept of gender fluidity does not bother us as much. This is only an assumption, so I apologize if I'm wrong, but I am pretty sure that the book was written to challenge the culture regarding gender identity at the time it was published, so the whole kemmer and gender-neutral biology is meant to be uncomfortable to the readers. If it was written today, I imagine the author use something that would disturb the general people, such as bestiality, necrophilia, etc.
It sometimes take people a long time to adapt to different cultures or ideas. For instance, when someone learns a new language, it may take that person over a year to fully comprehend the new language. I agree with Teeraniti, "The thing about culture is that, once you get use to one of them, its extremely difficult to give up..." I don't think that it is strange that he still hasn't adjusted, the two planets are completely different.
ReplyDelete