I believe the coldness of Gethen contributes to the theme of isolation and loneliness because it shows how lonely Genly Ai is and what it is like for him to be set apart from the Gethenians. The Planet Winter is usually at below freezing temperatures all year long. The Gethenians have been exposed to this kind of weather for so long that they have become adapted to it. On Earth there are four types of seasons every year, so it is a bit difficult for Genly to get used to the weather in Winter. He is in a genderless society where the people only have genders when they are ready to kemmer. He is considered to be a pervert because he is permanently in his male form. Being the only human on the planet, he is an alien to all of them. This affects Genly because he feels completely out of place and has no one alongside him.
I also think the coldness contributes to its theme of loneliness because the people on this planet are cold-hearted, emotionless beings. Just like their gender, they only show it once they are in kemmer and right after that they go on to their regular doings. I find it sad and a bit disturbing that this is how Gethenians live their lives because it seems that the only way that these people know how to live is to only care about theirselves. Talk about every man for himself. I am quite glad that Earth is not like Winter because we are able to be there for one another when someone is in need.
I agree, it is every man for himself. Its all about maintaining shifgrethor. If you dont have that, you are basically a nobody. The fact that each domain is ruled by a monarch also suggests the separation of them with a false sense of peace. The Gethenians can not even accept that the Genly came from a world that wants to make an alliance with them and are not looking to invade their world. On the other hand, the whole gender issue on Gethen is just hard to comprehend. I mean, if they have no gender, then what are they?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with what you wrote. Genly is alone on this planet and he is different from everyone else. I really like how you made a connection to the weather to being lonely. Coldness of the heart is a sad thing and the Gethenians seem to not car, so I agree when you say every man for himself because that is a perfect way to put it.
ReplyDeleteI agree it is seen throughout this book that the Gethennians are cold hearted emotions less people who often banish people for not living up to their ideal standards. It is also seen that many Gethenians also betray Genly on multiple occasions.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you used the coldness to describe how the Gethenians' personalities are. I agree that they are very emotionless beings tnat are often very power hungry. Genly Ai is very isolated because he doesn't have the adaptations that they have emotionally and regarding the cold.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you because like you said "talk about every man for himself", and that's how this all seems to be. To us, Genly is a normal person but to the Gethinians he is some "freak" or "perve" because he has a gender and knows he's strictly male and cannot Kemmer but Gethinians do not seem to understand or exactly accept that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you how the cold temperature intensifies the loneliness and isolation Genly feels on Winter. However, I oppose against your claim that it makes Gethenians emotionless creatures because the story mainly focuses more on Genly and his mission rather than each individual on Gethen. Moreover, the book barely displays or mentions much about full-fledged kemmer. If anything, it shows how affectionate and honorable Gethenians are. Once they swear kemmer, they are bound to be together forever, even if another dies.
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