How does the constant cold of Gethen contribute to the theme of isolation and loneliness?
In the book The Left Hand of Darkness, written by Ursulak Le Guin, the theme of isolation and loneliness is periodically mention in the beginning of the book. In the book, the main character Genly Ai tells us about his experience on the planet which they call Winter, because the planet is a ice wasteland.
In chapter two of the book, there was a short story of two brothers who had to kemmer until they had a child. The one who bared the child committed suicide because he had to break the kemmering and the other brother sent in exiled into the winter wasteland. On page 24-25 the exiled brother finds his dead brother in the snow blizzard but leaves him because his brother cannot say his name. This shows the theme of loneliness colliding with the constant coldness of the weather. The two brother separating and the snow blizzard show that.
In chapter 6 Estraven is exiled from Gethen. On his way to escaping the country he meets a past lover. On page 75-76 he rejects the help from his past lover. Then after that he starts to think to him self another the cold water of the gulf and thinks to himself if he can swim across the water. He mentions the ice in the gulf and then goes back to thinking about how he wished his lover was behind him to help him. This again shows the loneliness and the cold together. The cold waters and the past relationship of Estraven show this.
I agree that your references do contribute to the theme of isolation and loneliness. This is because every time there was a correlation to the journeys and being in the cold, there was always some sort of loss or sadness that went along with it thus showing the theme of isolation and loneliness.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that your references refer to the theme. However, in your opinion, why do you think he rejects his past lover. By rejecting his lover, he is choosing to be lonely but then wishes he still had his lover. I find that very interesting...
ReplyDeleteI had a totally different comment, but then I read Kayla's and I actually remember that part of the book and I actually thought that as well.
ReplyDeleteMy thing is, I believe Estraven refused help from Ashe because, maybe, he believed that he was a traitor and in being exiled, he is forcing himself to be alone forcing himself to push those closest to him away. Haven't we all been in a situation where we didn't want to be alone, but we forcibly push others away so we are?