The Left Hand of Darkness

The Left Hand of Darkness

Front cover, first edition, art by the Dillons
Author Ursula K. Le Guin
Cover artist Leo and Diane Dillon (depicted)[1]
Country United States
Language English
Series Hainish Cycle
Genre Science fiction novel
Published 1969 (Ace Books)[2]
Media type Print (paperback original; hardcover also 1969)
Pages 286 (first edition)
300 (most modern editions)
OCLC 181524
Preceded by City of Illusions[3]
Followed by The Word for World is Forest[3][lower-alpha 1]

The Left Hand of Darkness is a science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin, published in 1969. The novel became immensely popular; in 1970 it won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards as the year's "best novel",[6] and established Le Guin's status as a major author of science fiction.[7]

The novel is part of the Hainish Cycle, a series of novels and short stories by Le Guin set in the fictional Hainish universe, which she introduced in 1964 with Rocannon's World. Among the Hainish novels, it was preceded in the sequence of writing by City of Illusions and followed by The Word for World is Forest, although Left Hand is the last work in the chronology of the Hainish cycle.[3] The novel follows the story of Genly Ai, a native of Earth (referred to as "Terra" in the novel), who is sent to the planet of Gethen as an envoy of the Ekumen, a loose confederation of planets. Ai's mission is to persuade the nations of Gethen to join the Ekumen, but he is stymied by his lack of understanding of Gethenian culture. Individuals on Gethen are "ambisexual", with no fixed gender identity, a fact which has a strong influence on the culture of the planet, and creates a large barrier for Ai, a male raised on Earth.

Left Hand was among the first books published in the feminist science fiction genre and the most famous examination of androgyny in science fiction.[8] A major theme of the novel is the effect of sex and gender on culture and society, in particular through the relationship between Ai and Estraven, a Gethenian politician who trusts and helps him. The novel touched off a feminist debate when it was first published, over depictions of the ambisexual Gethenians. The novel also addresses the theme of religion, by contrasting the two major religions on Gethen, as well as exploring notions of loyalty and betrayal.

In addition to the Hugo and Nebula awards, a poll in Locus magazine covering novels ranked Left Hand third behind Dune and Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End (1963).[9] In 1987, Locus ranked it number two among "All-Time Best SF Novels", after Dune, based on the Locus Poll & Survey of subscribers.[10] It has been reprinted more than 30 times,[11] and received a highly positive response from reviewers. In an introduction to a critical anthology edited in 1987, Harold Bloom stated; "Le Guin, more than Tolkien, has raised fantasy into high literature, for our time".[11]

Background

Le Guin giving a reading in 2008

Le Guin's father Alfred Louis Kroeber was an anthropologist, and the exposure that this gave Le Guin influenced all of her works.[12] Many of the protagonists of Le Guin's novels, such as The Left Hand of Darkness and Rocannon's World are also anthropologists or social investigators of some kind.[13] Le Guin uses the term Ekumen for her fictional alliance of worlds, a term which she got from her father, who derived it from the Greek Oikoumene to refer to Eurasian cultures that shared a common origin.[14]

Le Guin's interest in Taoism influenced much of her science fiction work. Douglas Barbour stated that the fiction of the Hainish Universe contain a theme of balance between light and darkness, a central theme of Taoism.[15] She was also influenced by her early interest in mythology, and her exposure to cultural diversity as a child. Her protagonists are frequently interested in the cultures they are investigating, and are motivated to preserve them rather than conquer them.[16] Authors that influenced Le Guin include Victor Hugo, Lev Tolstoy, Virginia Woolf, Italo Calvino, and Lao Tzu.[17]

Le Guin identifies herself with feminism, and is interested in non-violence and ecological awareness. She has participated in demonstrations against the Vietnam war and nuclear weapons. These sympathies can be seen in several of her works of fiction, including the Hainish universe works.[17] The novels of the Hainish universe frequently explore the effects of differing social and political systems, although she displays a preference for a "society that governs by consensus, a communal cooperation without external government."[18] Her fiction also frequently challenges accepted depictions of race and gender.[18]

The original 1969 edition of The Left Hand of Darkness did not contain an introduction, but Le Guin wrote one for the 1976 edition after reflecting on her work. She states that science fiction is not extrapolative, because that is "too rationalist and simplistic." Instead, she calls it a "thought experiment," which presupposes some changes to the world, and explores their consequences.[19] In this case, her thought experiment explores a society without men or women, where individuals share the biological and emotional makeup of both sexes.[18] Le Guin states that the purpose of the "thought experiment" of writing science fiction was not to predict the future, but to "describe reality, the present world."[19] She has also stated that science fiction in general allows exploration of the "real" world through metaphors and complex stories, and that science fiction can use imaginary situations to comment on human behaviors and relationships.[17]

Setting

The Left Hand of Darkness is set in the fictional Hainish universe, which Le Guin introduced in her first novel Rocannon's World, published in 1966. In this alternative history, human beings did not evolve on earth, but on Hain. The people of Hain colonized many neighboring planetary systems, including Terra (Earth) and Gethen, possibly a million years before the setting of the novels. Some of these groups that "seeded" each planet were the subjects of genetic experiments, including on Gethen.[19] The planets subsequently lost contact with each other, for reasons that Le Guin does not explain.[20] Le Guin does not narrate the entire history of the Hainish universe at once, instead letting readers piece it together from various works. Although it was the last to be written, The Dispossessed lies earliest in the fictional chronology, while Left Hand is last.[21]

The novels and other fictional works set in the Hainish universe recount the efforts to re-establish a galactic civilization. Explorers from Hain as well as other planets use interstellar ships taking years to travel between planetary systems, although the journey is shortened for the travelers due to relativistic time dilation, as well as through instantaneous interstellar communication using the ansible, introduced in The Dispossessed.[20] This galactic civilization is known as the "League of All Worlds" in works set earlier in the chronology of the series, and has been reconstructed as the "Ekumen" by the time the events in The Left Hand of Darkness take place.[20] During the events of Left Hand, the Ekumen is a union of 83 worlds, with some common laws.[21] At least two "thought experiments" are used in each novel; the background idea of a common origin for all the humanoid species, and a second idea unique to each novel.[19]

The Left Hand of Darkness takes place many centuries in the future – no date is given in the book itself. Commentators have suggested the year 4870 AD, based on extrapolation of events in other works, and commentary on her writing by Le Guin.[3] The protagonist of the novel, the envoy Genly Ai, is on a planet called Winter ("Gethen" in the language of its own people) to convince the citizens to join the Ekumen. Winter is, as its name indicates, a planet that is always cold.[3]

The inhabitants of Gethen are sequentially hermaphroditic humans; for twenty-four days (somer) of each twenty-six day lunar cycle, they are sexually latent androgynes. They only adopt sexual attributes once a month, during a period of sexual receptiveness and high fertility, called kemmer. During kemmer they become sexually male or female, with no predisposition towards either,[22] although which sex they adopt can depend on context and relationships.[7] Throughout the novel Gethenians are described as "he", whatever their role in kemmer. This absence of fixed gender characteristics led Le Guin to portray Gethen as a society without war, and also without sexuality as a continuous factor in social relationships.[22][23] On Gethen, every individual takes part in the "burden and privilege" of raising children, and rape and seduction are virtually absent.[23]

Plot summary

The protagonist of the novel is Genly Ai, a male Terran native, who is sent to invite Gethen to join the Ekumen, the coalition of humanoid worlds.[24] Ai travels to Gethen on a ship which remains in orbit around the planet with Ai's companions, who are in stasis; Ai himself is sent to the planet's surface alone, as the "first mobile." Like all envoys of the Ekumen, he can "mindspeak" – a form of quasi-telepathic speech, which Gethenians are capable of, but for which they have lost the ability.[25] He lands in the Gethenian kingdom of Karhide, and spends two years attempting to persuade the members of its government of the value of joining the Ekumen.

The novel begins the day before an audience that Ai has obtained with Argaven Harge, the king of Karhide. Ai manages this through the help of Estraven, the prime minister, who seems to believe in Ai's mission; however, the night before the audience, Estraven tells Ai that he can no longer support Ai's cause with the king. Ai begins to doubt Estraven's loyalty because of his strange mannerisms, which Ai finds effeminate and ambiguous. The behavior of people in Karhide is dictated by shifgrethor, an intricate set of unspoken social rules and formal courtesy, which Ai does not understand, contributing to his distrust of Estraven.[26] The next day, as he prepares to meet the King, Ai learns that Estraven has been accused of treason, and exiled from the country. The pretext for Estraven's exile was his handling of a border dispute with the neighboring country of Orgoreyn, in which Estraven was seen as being too conciliatory. Ai meets with the king, who rejects his offer to join the Ekumen.[27] Discouraged, Ai decides to travel through Karhide, as the spring has just begun, rendering the interior of the country accessible.

Ai travels to a fastness, a dwelling of people of the Handarrata, one of two major Gethenian religions. He pays the fastness for a foretelling, an art practiced by the foretellers to prove the uselessness of knowing the right answer to the wrong question. Ai decides to pursue his mission in Orgoreyn.[28] He asks if Gethen/Winter will be a member of the Ekumen in five years, expecting that the foretellers will give him an ambiguous response; however, he is answered "yes". This leads him to muse that the Gethenians have "trained hunch to run in harness."[29] After several months of travelling through Karhide, Ai decides to pursue his mission in Orgoreyn, to which he has received an invitation.

Ai reaches the Orgota capital of Mishnory, where he finds that the Orgota politicians are initially far more direct with him. He is given comfortable quarters, and is allowed to present his invitation to the council that rules Orgoreyn. Three members of the council, Shusgis, Obsle, and Yegey, are particularly supportive of him. These three are members of an "open trade" faction, which wants to end the conflict with Karhide. Estraven, who was banished from Karhide, is found working with these council members, and tells Ai that he was responsible for Ai's presence in Orgoreyn.[30] Despite the support, Ai feels uneasy; Estraven warns him not to trust the Orgota leaders, and he hears rumors of the "Sarf," or secret police, that truly control Orgoreyn. He ignores both his feeling and the warning, and is once again blindsided; he is arrested unexpectedly one night, interrogated, and then sent to a far-northern work camp to meet his death by cold, labor, and sterilizing drugs.[31]

To Ai's great surprise, Estraven—whom Ai still distrusts—goes to great lengths to save him. Estraven poses as a prison guard and breaks Ai out of the farm, using his training with the Handarrata to induce dothe, or berserker strength to aid him in the process. Estraven spends the last of his money on supplies, and the pair begin an 80-day trek across the Gobrin ice sheet back to Karhide, because Estraven believes that the very appearance of Ai in Karhide will force its acceptance of the Ekumen treaty. Over the journey Ai and Estraven learn to trust and accept one another's differences. Ai is eventually successful in teaching Estraven mindspeech; Estraven hears Ai speaking in his mind with the voice of his dead sibling Arek,[32] demonstrating the close connection that the two have developed. When they reach Karhide, Estraven tries to return to the land border with Orgoreyn, because he is still exiled from Karhide, but is killed by border guards, who capture Ai. As Estraven predicted, Ai's presence in Karhide, and the fallout of Estraven's death, triggers the collapse of governments in both Karhide and Orgoreyn. Soon after, Karhide agrees to join the Ekumen, followed shortly by Orgoreyn, completing Ai's mission.[33]

Reception

The Left Hand of Darkness received hugely positive critical responses when it was published. It won both the Nebula Award, given by the Science Fiction Writers of America, and the Hugo award, determined by science fiction fans.[34][6][23] In 1987, Locus: The magazine of the science fiction & fantasy field ranked it number two among "All-Time Best SF Novels", based on a poll of subscribers.[10][lower-alpha 2]

Algis Budrys praised the novel as "a narrative so fully realized, so compellingly told, so masterfully executed." He found the book "a novel written by a magnificent writer, a totally compelling tale of human peril and striving under circumstances in which human love, and a number of other human qualities, can be depicted in a fresh context."[35] Darko Suvin, one of the first academics to study science fiction, stated that Left Hand was the "most memorable novel of the year."[34]

Harold Bloom listed The Left Hand of Darkness in The Western Canon (1994) as one of the books in his conception of artistic works that been important and influential in influencing Western culture.[36] saying that "Le Guin, more than Tolkien, has raised fantasy into high literature, for our time".[11] Bloom stated in 1987 that Left Hand was Le Guin's "finest work to date," and that critics had generally undervalued the book.[11] Charlote Spivack stated that Left Hand established Le Guin's status as a major science-fiction writer.[7]

Suzanne Reid stated that at the time the novel was written, Le Guin's ideas of androgyny were unique not only to science fiction, but to literature in general.[23] Donna White stated that Left Hand was one of the seminal works of science fiction, as important as Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, which is often described as the very first science fiction novel.[34] Left Hand has been a focus of literary critique of Le Guin's work, along with her Earthsea fiction and utopian fiction.[34] The novel was also a personal milestone for Le Guin, with critics calling it her "first contribution to feminism." It was one of her most popular books for many years after its publication.[23]

The novel was at the center of a feminist debate when it was published in 1969.[37] Alexei Panshin objected to the use of masculine "he/him/his" gender pronouns to describes its androgynous characters. Other feminists stated that the novel did not go far enough in its exploration of gender.[34] Criticism was also directed at the portrayal of androgynous characters in the "masculine" roles of politicians and statesmen but not in family roles. Le Guin, who identifies as a feminist, responded to these criticisms in her essay "Is Gender Necessary?" as well as by switching masculine pronouns for feminine ones in a later reprinting of Winter's King, an unconnected short story set on Gethen.[38] In her responses, Le Guin admitted to failing to depict androgynes in stereotypically feminine roles, but stated that she considered and decided against inventing gender-neutral pronouns, because they would mangle the language of the novel.[34]

Primary characters

Genly Ai

Genly Ai is the protagonist of the novel; a male native of Terra, or Earth, who is sent to Gethen by the Ekumen as a "first mobile" or envoy. He is called "Genry" by the Karhiders, who have trouble pronouncing the letter "L" in their language. He is described as rather taller and darker than the average Gethenian. Although curious and sensitive to Gethenian culture in many ways, he struggles at first to trust the ambisexual Gethenians. His own masculine mannerisms, learned on Terra, also prove to be a barrier to communication.[39] At the beginning of the book, he has been on Gethen for one year, trying to gain an audience with the king, and persuade the Karhidish government to believe his story. He arrives equipped with basic information about the language and culture from a team of investigators who had come before him.

In Karhide, the king is reluctant to accept his diplomatic mission. In Orgoreyn, Ai is seemingly accepted more easily by the political leaders, yet Ai is arrested, stripped of his clothes, drugged, and sent to a work camp.[39] Rescued by Estraven, the deposed Prime Minister of Karhide, Genly realizes that cultural differences – specifically shifgrethor and gender roles and Gethenian sexuality – had kept him from understanding their relationship previously. During their 81-day journey across the frozen land to return to Karhide, Ai learned to understand and love Estraven.[39]

Estraven

Therem Harth rem ir Estraven is a Gethenian from the Domain of Estre in Kerm Land, at the southern end of the Karhidish half of the continent. He is the Prime Minister of Karhide at the very beginning of the novel, until he is exiled from Karhide after attempting to assuage the Sinnoth Valley dispute with Orgoreyn. Estraven is one of the few Gethenians who believes Ai, and attempts to help him from the beginning. However, Ai's lack of understanding of shifgrethor leads to severe misunderstanding between them. Estraven is stated to have made a societally-incorrect kemmering vow to his brother, Arek Harth rem ir Estraven, while they were both young. Convention required that they separated after they had produced a child together; however, because of the first vow, the vow he makes with Ashe Foreth, which also is broken before the events in Left Hand, is called a "false vow, a second vow".[40] In contrast to Ai, Estraven is shown with both stereotypically male and female qualities, and used to demonstrate that they are both necessary for survival.[23][11]

Argaven

Argaven Harge XV is the king of Karhide during the events of the novel. He is described both by his subjects and by Estraven as being "mad."[39] He has sired seven children, but has yet to bear "an heir of the body, king son".[41] During the events of the novel he becomes pregnant but loses the child before it is born, triggering speculation as to which of his sired children will be named his heir.[42] His behavior towards Ai is consistently paranoid; although he grants Ai an audience, he refuses to believe his story, and declines the offer to join the Ekumen. The tenure of his prime-ministers tends to be short, with both Estraven and Tibe rising and falling from power during the two Gethenian years that the novel spans. Argaven eventually agrees to join the Ekumen due to the political fallout of Estraven's death and Ai's escape from Orgoreyn.

Tibe

Pemmer Harge rem ir Tibe is Argaven Harge's cousin. Tibe becomes the prime minister of Karhide when Estraven is exiled at the beginning of the novel, and becomes the regent for a brief while when Argaven is pregnant. In contrast to Estraven, he seems intent on starting a war with Orgoreyn over the Sinoth valley dispute; in addition to taking aggressive actions at the border, he regularly makes speeches on the radio against Orgoreyn. He is strongly opposed to Ai's mission. He orders Estraven to be killed at the border at the end of the novel, as a last act of defiance, knowing that Estraven and Ai's presence in Karhide mean his own downfall; he resigns immediately after Estraven's death.[43]

Obsle, Yegey, & Shusgis

Obsle, Yegey, and Shusgis are Commensals, three of the thirty-three councilmen that rule Orgoreyn. Obsle and Yegey are members of the "Open trade" faction, who wish to cease hostilities and reopen trade with Karhide. Obsle is the commensal of the Sekeve District, and was once the head of the Orgota Naval Trade Commission in Erhenrang, where he became acquainted with Estraven.[44] Estraven describes him as the nearest thing to an honest person among the politicians of Orgoreyn.[41] Yegey is the commensal who first finds Estraven during his exile, and who gives Estraven a job and a place to live in Mishnory. Shusgis is the commensal who hosts Genly Ai after Ai's arrival in Mishnory, and is a member of the opposing faction, which supports the Sarf, the Orgota secret police. Although Obsle and Yegey support Ai's mission, they see him more as a means of increasing their own influence within the council; thus they eventually betray him to the Sarf, in order to save themselves. Their open trade faction takes control of the council after Ai's presence in Karhide becomes known at the end of the novel.[43]

Themes

Hainish universe themes

Le Guin's works set in the Hainish universe explore the idea of human expansion, similar to the future history novels of other science-fiction authors such as Isaac Asimov.[20] These novels, such as The Dispossessed, Left Hand, and The Word for World is Forest also frequently explore the effects of differing social and political systems.[18] Le Guin believed that contemporary society suffered from a high degree of alienation and division, and her depictions of encounters between races, such as in The Left Hand of Darkness sought to explore the possibility of an "improved mode of human relationships," based on "integration and integrity."[20] The Left Hand of Darkness explores this theme through the relationship between Genly Ai and Estraven; Ai initially distrusts Estraven, but eventually comes to love and trust him.[24] Le Guin's later Hainish novels also challenge contemporary ideas about gender, ethnic differences, the value of ownership, and human beings' relationship to the natural world.[23]

Sex and gender

A prominent theme in the novel are social relations in a society where gender is irrelevant; in Le Guin's words, she "eliminated gender, to find out what was left."[24] In her 1976 essay "Is Gender necessary?" Le Guin stated that the theme of gender was only secondary to the novel's primary theme of loyalty and betrayal. However, Le Guin revisited this essay in 1988, and stated that gender was actually central to the novel; her earlier essay had described gender as a peripheral theme because of the defensiveness she felt over using masculine pronouns for her characters.[34]

The novel also follows changes in the character of Genly Ai, who displays steadily more androgynous behavior over the course of the novel, becoming more patient and caring, and less rationalist.[38] Ai struggles to form a bond with Estraven through much of the novel, and finally breaks down the barrier between them during their journey on the ice, when he recognizes and accepts Estraven's dual sexuality. Their understanding of each other's sexuality helps them achieve a more trusting relationship.[38] The new intimacy they share is shown when Ai teaches Estraven to mindspeak, and Estraven hears Ai speaking with the voice of Estraven's dead sibling Arek.[38]

Feminist theorists criticized the novel for what they saw as a homophobic depiction of the relationship between Extraven and Ai. Both are presented as superficially masculine throughout the novel, but they never physically explore the attraction between them. Estraven's death at the end was seen as giving the message that "death is the price that must be paid for forbidden love."[14] In a 1986 essay, Le Guin acknowledged and apologized for the fact that Left Hand had presented heterosexuality as the norm on Gethen.[14]

The androgynous nature of the inhabitants of Gethen are used to examine gender relations in human society. On Gethen, the permanently male Genly Ai is an oddity, and is seen as a "pervert" by the natives; reviewers have stated that this is Le Guin's way of gently critiquing masculinity.[23] Additionally, Le Guin seems to suggest that the absence of gender divisions leads to a society without the constriction of gender roles.[23] The Gethenians are also not inclined to go to war, which reviewers have linked to their lack of sexual aggressiveness, derived from their ambisexuality.[11] Harold Bloom states that "Androgyny is clearly neither a political nor a sexual ideal" in the book, but that "...ambisexuality is a more imaginative condition than our bisexuality. [...] the Gethenians know more than either men or women." Bloom adds that this is the major difference between Estraven and Ai, and allows Estraven the freedom to carry out actions that Ai cannot.[11]

Religion

The book features two major religions: the Handdara, an informal system reminiscent of Taoism and Buddhism, and the Yomeshta or Meshe's cult, a close-to-monotheistic religion based on the idea of absolute knowledge of the entirety of time attained in one visionary instant by Meshe, who was originally a Foreteller of the Handdara, when attempting to answer the question: 'What is the meaning of life?'. The Handdara is the more ancient, and dominant in Karhide, while Yomesh is the official religion in Orgoreyn. The differences between them underlie political distinctions between the countries and cultural distinctions between their inhabitants. Estraven is revealed to be an adept of the Handdara.

Le Guin's interest in Taoism influenced much of her science fiction work. Douglas Barbour stated that the fiction of the Hainish Universe contain a theme of balance between light and darkness, a central theme of Taoism.[15] The title of Left Hand derives from the first line of a lay traditional to the fictional planet of Gethen;

Light is the left hand of darkness, and darkness the right hand of light. Two are one, life and death, lying together like lovers in kemmer, like hands joined together, like the end and the way.[45]

Suzanne Reid states that this presentation of light and dark was in strong contrast to many western cultural assumptions, which believe in strongly contrasted opposites. She states that Le Guin's characters have a tendency to adapt to the rhythms of nature rather than trying to conquer them, an attitude which can also be traced to Taoism.[16] The Handarrata represent the Taoist sense of unity; believers try to find insight by reaching the "untrance," a balance between knowing and unknowing, and focusing and unfocusing.[23]

The Yomesh cult is the official religion of Orgoreyn, and worships light. Critics such as David Lake have found parallels between the Yomesh cult and Christianity, such as the presence of saints and angels, and the use of a dating system based on the death of the prophet.[46] Le Guin portrays the Yomesh religion as influencing the Orgota society, which Lake interprets as a critique of the influence of Christianity upon Western society.[46] The Yomesh religion focuses on enlightenment and positive, obvious statements more than the religion of Karhide. Le Guin suggests that this focus on positives leads to the Orgota being not entirely honest, and that a balance between enlightenment and darkness is necessary for truth.[23]

Loyalty and betrayal

Loyalty, fidelity, and betrayal are significant themes in the book, explored against the background of both planetary and interplanetary relations. Genly Ai is sent to Gethen as an envoy of the Ekumen, whose mission is to convince the various Gethenian nations that their identities will not be destroyed when the integrate with the Ekumen.[22] At the same time, the planetary conflict between Karhide and Orgoreyn is shown as increasing loyalty to the two countries while decreasing loyalty to the planet as a whole.[22] A related theme that runs through Le Guin's work is that of being rooted or rootless in society, explored through the persons of lone individuals on alien planets.[13]

This conflict is demonstrated by the varying loyalties of the main characters. Genly Ai tells Argaven after Estraven's death that the latter served mankind as a whole, just as Ai did.[47] During the border dispute with Orgoreyn, Estraven tries to end the dispute by moving Karhidish farmers out of the disputed territory. Estraven believed that by preventing war he was saving Karhidish lives and being loyal to his country, while King Argaven saw it as a betrayal.[47] At the end of the novel Ai calls his ship down to formalize Gethen's joining the Ekumen, and feels conflicted while doing so because he had promised Estraven that he would clear Estraven's name before calling his ship down. This demonstrates Le Guin's portrayal of loyalty and betrayal as complementary rather than contradictory, because in joining Gethen with the Ekumen Ai was fulfilling the larger purpose that he shared with Estraven.[47] Donna White stated that many of Le Guin's novels depict a struggle between personal loyalties and public duties, best exemplified in Left Hand, where Ai is bound by a personal bond to Estraven, but must subordinate that to his mission for the Ekumen and humanity.[48]

The theme of loyalty and trust is related to the novel's other major theme of gender. Ai has considerable difficulty in completing his mission because of his prejudice against the ambisexual Gethenians and his inability to establish a personal bond with them.[22] Ai's preconceived ideas of how men should behave prevents him from trusting Estraven when the two meet; Ai labels Estraven "womanly" and distrusts him because Estraven exhibits both male and female characteristics. Estraven also faces difficulties communicating with Ai, who does not understand shifgrethor, the Gethenians' indirect way of giving and receiving advice.[22]

Shifgrethor and communication

Shifgrethor is a fictional concept in the Hainish universe, first introduced in The Left Hand of Darkness. It is first mentioned by Genly Ai, when he thinks to himself "...shifgrethor—prestige, face, place, the pride-relationship, the untranslatable and all-important principle of social authority in Karhide and all civilizations of Gethen."[26] It derives from an old Gethenian word for shadow. George Slusser describes shifgrethor as "this status is not rank, but its opposite, the ability to maintain equality in any relationship, and to do so by respecting the person of the other."[49] According to University of West Georgia Professor Carrie B. McWhorter, shifgrethor can be defined simply as "a sense of honor and respect that provides the Gethenians with a way to save face in a time of crisis." [50]

Ai initially refuses to see a connection between his sexuality and his mode of consciousness, preventing from truly understanding the Gethenians; thus he is unable to persuade them of the importance of his mission.[11] Ai's failure to understand shifgrethor and to trust Estraven's motives leads him to misunderstand much of the advice that Estraven gives him[46] As Ai's relationship to Estraven changes, their communication also changes; they are both more willing to acknowledge mistakes, and make fewer assertions.[46] Eventually, the two are able to converse directly with mindspeech, but after Ai is able to understand Estraven's motivations, and no longer requires direct communication.[46]

Style and structure

The novel is framed as part of the report that Ai sends back to the Ekumen after his time on Gethen, and as such, suggests that Ai is selecting and ordering the material.[51] Ai narrates ten chapters in the first person; the rest are made up of extracts from Estraven's personal diary and ethnological reports from an earlier observer from the Ekumen, interspersed with Gethenian myths and legends.[51] The novel begins with the following statement from Ai, explaining the need for multiple voices in the novel:[51]

I'll make my report as if I told a story, for I was taught as a child on my homeworld that Truth is a matter of the imagination. The soundest fact may fail or prevail in the style of its telling: like that singular organic jewel of our seas, which grows brighter as one woman wears it and, worn by another, dulls and goes to dust. Facts are no more solid, coherent, round, and real, than pearls are. But both are sensitive.

The story is not all mine, nor told by me alone. Indeed I am not sure whose story it is; you can judge better. But it is all one, and if at moments the facts seem to alter with an altered voice, why then you can choose the fact that you like the best; yet none of them are false, and it is all one story.[52]

The myths and legends serve to explain specific features about Gethenian culture, as well as larger philosophical aspects of society. Many of the tales used in the novel immediately precede chapters describing Ai's experience with a similar situation. For instance, a story about the dangers of foretelling is presented before Ai's own experience witnessing a foretelling.[38] Other stories include a discussion of the legend of the "place inside the storm;" another discusses the roots of the Yomeshta cult; a third is an ancient Orgota creation myth; a fourth is a story of one of Estraven's ancestors, which discusses what a traitor is. The presence of myths and legends has also been cited by reviewers who state that Le Guin's work, particularly Left Hand, is similar to allegory in many ways. These include the presence of a guide (Estraven) for the protagonist (Ai), and the use of myths and legends to provide a backdrop for the story.[12]

The heterogeneous structure of the novel has been described as "distinctly post-modern," and was unusual for the time of its publication,[34] in marked contrast to the (primarily male-authored) science fiction of the time, which was straightforward and linear.[53] The structure of the novel was unorthodox enough that it was initially confusing to reviewers, before it was interpreted as an attempt to follow the trajectory of Ai's changing views.[13] Also in contrast to what was typical for male authors of the period, Le Guin narrated the action in the novel through the personal relationships she depicted.[13]

Ai's first-person narration reflects his slowly developing view, and the reader's knowledge and understanding of the Gethens evolves with Ai's awareness. He begins in naivety, gradually discovering his profound errors in judgement.[54] In this sense, the novel can be thought of as a Bildungsroman, or coming of age story, as the reader experiences the central character's growth.[53] Since the novel is presented as Ai's journey of transformation, Ai's position as the narrator increases the credibility of the story.[51] The narration is complemented by her writing style, described by a reviewer as "precise, dialectical – always evocative in its restrained pathos" which is "exquisitely fitted to her powers of invention."[11]

Adaptations

In December 2004, Phobos Entertainment acquired media rights to the novel and announced plans for a feature film and video game based on it.[55] In 2013, the Portland Playhouse and Hand2Mouth Theatre produced a stage adaptation of The Left Hand of Darkness in Portland, Oregon.[56] On 12 April and 19 April 2015, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a two-part adaptation of the novel, starring Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as Genly Ai, Lesley Sharp as Estraven, Toby Jones as Argaven, Ruth Gemmell as Ashe, Louise Brealey as Tibe and Gaum, Stephen Critchlow as Shusgis, and David Acton as Obsle. The radio drama was adapted by Judith Adams and directed by Allegra McIlroy.[57] The adaptation was created and aired as part of a thematic month centered on the life and works of Ursula Le Guin, in commemoration of her then-recent 85th birthday.[58][59]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ This sequence refers to novels in the Hainish cycle. The short story Winter's King was published in 1969, between the publication of City of Illusions (1967) and Left Hand.[4][5]
  2. ↑ In the 1987 poll, The Left Hand of Darkness ranked second to Frank Herbert's Dune (1965).[10] In the 1975 version of the poll covering "novels," Left Hand had ranked third behind Dune and Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End (1963).[9]

References

  1. ↑ Fenner 2014.
  2. ↑ Spivack 1984, p. 173.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Watson 1975.
  4. ↑ Spivack 1984, p. 47.
  5. ↑ Spivack 1984, p. 166.
  6. 1 2 Locus 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 Spivack 1984, pp. 44–50.
  8. ↑ Reid 2009, pp. 9, 120.
  9. 1 2 Locus 1975.
  10. 1 2 3 Locus 1987.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Bloom 1987.
  12. 1 2 White 1999, pp. 60–65.
  13. 1 2 3 4 White 1999, pp. 55–60.
  14. 1 2 3 White 1999, pp. 70–77.
  15. 1 2 White 1999, pp. 51–55.
  16. 1 2 Reid 1997, pp. 3–8.
  17. 1 2 3 Reid 1997, pp. 10–17.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Reid 1997, pp. 49–55.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Cummins 1990, pp. 66–67.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 Cummins 1990, pp. 68–70.
  21. 1 2 Reid 1997, pp. 19–21.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cummins 1990, pp. 74–77.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Reid 1997, pp. 51–56.
  24. 1 2 3 Cummins 1990, pp. 71–74.
  25. ↑ Le Guin 1980, pp. 33–50.
  26. 1 2 Le Guin 1980, p. 10.
  27. ↑ Le Guin 1980, pp. 19–29.
  28. ↑ Reid 1997, pp. 50–60.
  29. ↑ Le Guin 1980, p. 47.
  30. ↑ Le Guin 1980, pp. 86–91.
  31. ↑ Spivack 1984.
  32. ↑ Le Guin 1980, p. 176.
  33. ↑ Le Guin 1980, pp. 184–204.
  34. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 White 1999, pp. 45–50.
  35. ↑ Galaxy 1970.
  36. ↑ Bloom 2014, p. 564.
  37. ↑ White 1999, p. 5.
  38. 1 2 3 4 5 Cummins 1990, pp. 78–85.
  39. 1 2 3 4 Spivack 1984, pp. 48–51.
  40. ↑ Le Guin 1980, p. 52.
  41. 1 2 Le Guin 1980, p. 69.
  42. ↑ Le Guin 1980, p. 94.
  43. 1 2 Le Guin 1980, p. 201.
  44. ↑ Le Guin 1980, p. 108.
  45. ↑ Le Guin 1980, p. 164.
  46. 1 2 3 4 5 White 1999, pp. 65–70.
  47. 1 2 3 Cummins 1990, pp. 85–87.
  48. ↑ White 1999, pp. 50–55.
  49. ↑ White 1999, pp. 56–60.
  50. ↑ McWhorter 1998.
  51. 1 2 3 4 Cummins 1990, pp. 76–81.
  52. ↑ Le Guin 1980, p. 1.
  53. 1 2 Reid 1997.
  54. ↑ Spivack 1984, pp. 44–60.
  55. ↑ Harris 2004.
  56. ↑ Hughley 2013.
  57. ↑ BBC1 2015.
  58. ↑ BBC2 2015.
  59. ↑ Open Culture 2015.

Sources

Further reading

External links

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