The Gethen culture is really talked about throughout the whole novel, so I guess I will just go back to the first myth to begin with. In chapter two, the kemmering sibling story is told between, Hode and Getheren. They are forced to separate after their kemmering cycle together, and Hode “commits suicide” which is one of the worst things to do in Gethen culture. Although we find out later in that chapter that the siblings eventually find each other again in the cold storm when the other brother, Getheren, decides to abandon his homeland.
This was when genders and the whole idea of kemmering was first introduced to us. But where we are now in the novel, we are assured by the myth and by the novel that when siblings kemmer, they are not allowed to vow to each other. So that is what went wrong in their situation. Not only that, but Hode’s pretend action of “committing suicide” led Getheren away from him completely. I think the Gethen culture is something we are definitely not used to, it is foreign to us. But it displays the morally right way that Gethian people believe in.
In terms of the actual novel regarding Genly Ai, that myth has many connections to what eventually happens.
One of the connections that I managed to find was when Genly gets taken to the ‘Farms’ and meets the elder, Asra, he gets to a comfortable relationship with him. They try not to focus on the idea of death, so that is when he tells Genly dozens of myths about the Gethenian culture. And I think that is where all of these small chapters are coming from. These stories are all told by Genly’s point of view, so he must of gotten all these myths from his source of his elder friend at the farm!!
Did anybody else catch this when they were reading chapter 13? What else did you guys connect about the myth and the novel?
I hadn't considered the idea that Genly could have received the myths that are scattered throughout the novel from Asra. This would make sense because, for the most part, myths and legends are passed down through word of mouth from one generation to the next to keep the story alive, and since Asra is an elder, it all makes sense. Something else I found interesting in this specific myth is that when Getheren is trying to escape from the place of suicide, he is injured and his left hand has to be cut off (as in, the left hand of darkness). This may just be a coincidence, but I thought it was interesting.
ReplyDeleteI like your thought of Genly receiving the myths in the story from Asra, it is a great idea. The myths in the story seem odd at times because they are scattered randomly throughout, but they teach us a lot about the Gethenian culture. I think there is a lot of information we can retain from the myths,such as the myths about the foretellers and kemmering. They help us gain a better understanding of how things work in Gethen.
ReplyDeleteI did not catch any of that while I was reading chapter 13. I never really thought about it until I read you post. Pretty good stuff!
ReplyDeleteI didn't really think about that during chapter 13, but you make a good point, Arely !
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