The
idea that cold weather brings about feelings of loneliness and isolation is not
an uncommon idea. Feelings of being cold are often experienced in times of social
rejection, social isolation, and even those times when everyone around you is
busy. Being cold seems to have a direct relation to feeling lonely or isolated.
Many studies have been made on this topic. Many of them reach similar
conclusions: people who are asked to describe or remember feelings or times of
isolation/loneliness reported that they felt cold when explaining these times. In
other studies, people who were at a place that was cold would report feeling
lonely or even depressed. Knowing this, it’s easy to imagine how Genly must feel
on a planet like Gethen.
Genly is already considered an
outcast simply because Gethen, its culture, and the population is so different
and unknown to him compared to where he had come from. He is taller than most
of the people there, has a permanent gender whereas everyone around him is
genderless, and everyone sees him as "the Envoy" eliciting immediate
wariness of him. On top of that, the cold provides more differences to
encourage Genly's loneliness and isolation. Everyone around him has adapted to
the persistent freezing weather on Gethen, but Genly is affected more by the
cold. “Brought up in the wide-open, free-wheeling society of Earth, [Genly] would
never master the protocol, or the impassivity, so valued by Karhiders.” Genly was isolated when he came to Gethen and probably feels the need to continue being isolated because he is so different from the rest of
the locals.
That fact that Genly is an alien in the planet Gethen . A typical day on earth would be normal for a guy like Genly. Although; on the other hand, living on Gethen would be so different due to its climate change. But see, he feels left out and knowing this world won't except him he feels cold . Which in other words ,he feels loneliness and isolated . .
ReplyDeleteI agree that the cold is related to loneliness because whenever someone is lonely, they say they feel cold. Genly is very brave for coming to this strange planet all by himself, and he often feels alone because he is different from the rest of the people, and is not used to the climate change. However, I don't think he is the only one. Estraven also might feel lonely and cold because he was exiled. Him and Genley, who both felt alone, traveled together across the ice, which reveals the connection the two might have made on that journey.
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