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The Left Hand of Darkness
The Left Hand of Darkness is a science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin, published in 1969.
The book is one of the first major works of "feminist science fiction". It won the 1969 Nebula and 1970 Hugo awards.
Contents
Plot introduction
The Left Hand of Darkness is the account of the efforts of a man named Genly Ai, a representative from a galactic federation of worlds (the Ekumen), who seeks to bring the world of Gethen into that society. It forms part of a series of books by Le Guin all set in the fictional Hainish universe.
Plot summary
- !—WARNING—!
Article below this line is likely to contain spoilers.
The story opens in the feudal kingdom of Karhide, where the two primary characters, Genly Ai, a representative of the benevolent information-exchange driven society of the Ekumen, and Therem Harth rem ir Estre (Estraven), the prime minister of Karhide, are introduced. In the second part of the book, the story moves to the centralized totalitarian state of Orgoreyn, where Genly is accepted as a means to an end by an Orgota political faction. The differences between these two states and the reactions of Genly, Estraven, and other characters in the book provides insights into the motivations of Genly and the Gethenian characters. During the third part of the book, Estraven saves Genly from imprisonment, and they travel together across the glaciers connecting Orgoreyn and Karhide.
At the opening of the story, Genly distrusts Estraven, thinking of Estraven as his patron, but not being able to understand his motives. Shortly before Genly speaks with the King about joining the Ekumen, Estraven informs Genly that he is no longer supporting his cause. Genly interprets this as feminine intrigue, a betrayal. In fact, Estraven has jeopardized his own political standing by opposing the King in his pursuit of conflict in a border region of Karhide and Orgoreyn called Sinoth Valley. Estraven realizes that his fall is imminent, and believing in Genly's cause, he does not wish to drag Genly down with him. The next day, Estraven is proscribed, and has three days to leave the country before being shot. Genly, dissatisfied with his progress, leaves the city to explore the older mythology of the Karhidish religion. Then, satisfied that he has seen enough of Karhide, which he believes is too irrational, he leaves for Orgoreyn.
Estraven has preceded Genly in Orgoreyn, and has encouraged one of the political parties that is out of power to support Genly's cause. At first when Genly arrives in Orgoreyn, he is pleased with the state of the country, believing it less backwards than Karhide, and more ready to accept the Ekumen. Gradually as Genly stays in Orgoreyn, he begins to feel as if he is not seeing everything, as if what he is seeing is a dishonest representation. Genly becomes a liability to the political factions that have been sheltering him up to this point in Orgoreyn. For their own political well-being, they give Genly up to a faction less well-disposed to Genly, the Sarf, and Genly is sent to a labor farm, basically a prison.
Estraven uses all of his resources to gather materials and information, and rescues Genly. Genly is astonished that Estraven has done this for him, and Estraven comments that while he had always supported and believed in Genly, he was the single Gethenian that Genly had refused to trust. They decide that they must leave Orgoreyn, but they cannot be around people because they lack the required identifying papers. They decide to travel across the glaciers from Orgoreyn into Karhide, an 800-mile journey that will take them, Estraven guesses, over three months. During their journey across the ice, Estraven and Genly grow to be good friends and eventually love each other. Shortly after they arrive in Karhide, Estraven is shot and dies. Genly is taken to the King, who at this point is ready to join the Ekumen.
Throughout the novel, there are short creation myths and legends, explaining the psychology of the Gethenians and illuminating Estraven's unspoken past. One story discusses the place inside the storm, a quiet haven within a blizzard. One story discusses the roots of the Yomeshta religion. One is an ancient Handara creation myth. One discusses what a traitor is, and so on.
The inhabitants of Gethen are androgynes, biologically hermaphroditic humans; for twenty-four days of each twenty-six day lunar cycle they are biologically neuter, and for the remaining two days (kemmer) are male or female, as determined by pheromonal negotiation with an interested sex partner. Thus each individual can both sire and bear children. The Gethenians were genetically engineered for this characteristic long ago, possibly to maximize reproductive success on the harsh glaciated world of Gethen, or because the ancient biological engineers were curious about what such people would be like.
Le Guin developed this idea out of a desire to explore what remained basic to human nature when biological gender was no longer a factor. The Left Hand of Darkness is a significant milestone in the increasing sophistication of the treatment of sex in science fiction that developed in the 1970s.
Major themes
A large part of the novel is an exploration of a neuter society — a society in which sexual difference plays no role, although love and jealousy remain. Le Guin's most challenging assertion is that such a world would have no history of war: lacking a deep sense of duality implied by strong gender divisions, Gethenians lack a necessary component of nationalism. Their sense of us vs. them is strongly mitigated by their intuitive grasp that there is no real difference, that any distinction is at least somewhat arbitrary. However, they retain the capacity for personal aggression.
Gethenians do possess an elaborate system of social prestige called shifgrethor, in which individuals jockey for position by subtle maneuvering — the exact kind of social conflict seen in homogeneous groups (compare office politics). The demonization of others is artificial and temporary; alliances shift easily, and prevailing cultural mores are determined and protected by the next clearest division between groups - geography. Nations exist, and different places have different societies, but they blend at the edges. Low level raiding of indeterminate value preserves a sense of hostility and division that is useful for internal political purposes, but there is little real desire to actually conquer another nation. Indeed, the concept of full-scale war is unknown to Gethenian societies.
Translations
- Catalan: "La MÃ Esquerra de la Foscor", 1985, 1997.
- Czech: "Levá ruka tmy".
- German: "Die linke Hand der Dunkelheit".
- Russian: "Ð›ÐµÐ²Ð°Ñ Ñ€ÑƒÐºÐ° тьмы", 1991, 1992, 1993, 1999, 2006.
See also
External links
- Template:isfdb title
- Analysis of Ursula K. LeGuin's The Left Hand Of Darkness
- Review of the novel
- Scfi.com's review of the novel
A feature film is being developed for release in 2008.
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