The idea of the constant cold on Gethen portrays the isolation and loneliness that Genly Ai has to cope with because he is from a world much different from his own. In addition, his physical qualities and his gender define who he is and how Genly is seen as an alien to many of the inhabitants. Everyone on Gethen is very similar without a male or female gender and no categorization between the two whereas Genly has a gender. Therefore showing that Genly seems to be alone. Partly why Genly remains alone is that people fear who Genly is and the unknown world he comes from. Apart from his differences as an envoy, the climate plays an important role to Genly's attitude. As opposed to his warmer Earth-like planet, Genly has been placed on a planet completely opposite from what he is familiar with and is no longer in his comfortable.
Because of the coldness on Gethen, Genly is a stranger to the planet and the people. And with the King instilling fear within the country and its people, it is quite difficult for the people to befriend Genly leaving him in a lonesome state. Furthermore with Estraven banished from the country, Genly suffers without the only person that he understands and can communicate with. All in all it has influenced Genly to feel excluded from their society and continue to live in a state of solitude.
I always imagined that the cold climate on Gethen reflects the mood of Genly. I like to think that whenever Genly isn't alone, or when he's not the only human on a foreign planet, warmth means comfort, content, and happiness. On the other hand, whenever Genly feels alone, chill means feeling blue, sad, and insecure.
ReplyDeleteYes Keith, could not have said it any better myself. I would have to agree that winter represents Gently's loneliness as it tends to be a symbolism for that in many other occasions. When one of the characters ( can't remember who it was) warmed up the place he was staying in, he was happy and felt slightly at home. Once he got send to the work farms he was cold and felt lonely again.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of them. There are many ways of representing lonleyness. It's more of a feeling than a thought. He feels everyone's negativity towards him(or he thinks). He doesn't have to say he feels lonely to know he feels alone. The fact that genleys mood is what changes the climate and is more common sinc. The colder something is the less you feel wanted or fitted in. It's more of a solitary place as if he was alone because that's what he feels being in a place that pretty much foreign to him.
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