The Left Hand Of Darkness By Ursula

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The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin

“The Left Hand of Darkness” is a 1969 science fiction book written by a United States

writer Ursula K. Le Guin. This novel became immensely popular establishing Le Guin as a

major science fiction author. This book is an idea story where it is not plot or character driven

unlike some science fiction but tries answering the question of what would emerge were there

only a single gender that is capable of binary sexes.

Le Guin tries to find a solution for this question with the human race on Gethen, an

alien world. The Gethenians out of their lunar cycle are of no gender for twenty-three days.

The Gethenians do not desire sex while they physically cannot breed. They then adopt opposite

mating characteristics for three days in a transition hey refer to as Kemmer. In this cycle, some

develop sex characteristics which are female-like while others have male-like characteristics.

As the hormonal changes are not entirely random, the Gethenians mate basing on the Kemmer

cycle and the cycle starts again when it is over. It is thus quite normal for the Gethenians to

have mothered or fathered kids. Those who fail to perform both roles tend to feel a loss either

socially or psychologically.

Genly Ai lands Gethen via space travel. His presence, unfortunately, is not welcomed

as Ekumen expected, but we are aware that they knew what they were doing as for centuries

have been sending emissaries to the planet. Both the Gethenians and Genly reacts poorly to

their differences. For instance, Genly can’t get over the Gethenians gender ambiguity while on

the other hand, the Gethenians doesn’t get over the idea that Genly looks like a sexual pervert

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who is stuck in Kemmer. However, it is through their differences that the plot brings Genly on

the worlds impressive tour and culture is thoroughly explored.

Although Genly serves as the main viewpoint character, I was fond of Therem Harth

rem ir Estraven who is the true protagonist and one of the King’s ministers. He is probably the

only one apart from Genly who is interested to see Gethen become a part of Ekuman for the

good of everybody but takes a lot of effort and time to make Genly believe it and trust him.

The book is definitely a vital fiction seminal work as it challenges sex, gender roles as

well as human’s gender notions. What results when sex is entirely taken out of the equation?

We see Genly Ai trying to understand how the Gethenians are at the same time both male and

female as Estraven struggles to understand Genly Ai together with his Ekumen ways. The novel

from a literal standpoint is beautifully written with a deceptively straightforward plot. Some

other stories are interspersed in the entire main storyline. These include Ai’s predecessor field

records and Gethen myth tales. Every tale and every analysis offer a crucial insight into the

novel. There are firesides tales in the novel about the future seers and doomed lovers as well

as postulations about the Gethenians origin and human genetic experimentation.

The book is not easy to read. For instance, Ms. LeGuin’s prose graceful and descriptive

but requires memory and a lot of concentration to keep straight and understand different

customs and people throughout. The Left Hand of Darkness at less than three hundred pages is

nonetheless full of challenging ideas concepts and themes. Gender, religion, political systems

as well as the human natures facets are examined to the length. It is, however, a challenging

book that can only get better after reading it severally.

While in the middle the narrative gets bogged down somehow, the conflicts as well as

the characters in this book unique nature makes the book to move along at a brisk pace. Whether

the planet forms a part of Ekumen or not is secondary to the characters fate and how as the part

of the society they reflect it. For me, it was not until I was done reading the novel that I started

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to ponder some of the themes and larger questions that are presented by the book. The ability

of LeGuin to paint the society’s believable portrait where every member is both male and

female deeply draws the reader’s attention that they fail to realize the staggering inferences of

what it means for a culture to not having a barrier between the genders which is not well

defined. It is this ability that makes Ursula K. Le Guin today's one of the best science fiction

authors.

In conclusion, the Left Hand of Darkness for the fiction theorists has proved to be a

rich text and has been a subject of many interpretations. The “ansible” Guin’s invention allows

Genly Ai to instantaneously communicate with the Ekumen worlds which are many distances

away which makes it have a science fiction genre. It combines literary and political ideals as it

promises open trade in ideas and knowledge. More than science, more than politics, this book

is a rich and complex story of love and friendship.

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Works Cited

Guin, U. K. (1969). The Left Hand of Darkness. Ace (US) / Orbit (UK).

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