Discuss Genly Ai's struggle to see Gethenians as they see themselves. What do Genly Ai's attitudes reveal about the world he comes from?
Genly struggles to see Gethenians as they see themselves because in Winter, there are no genders. However, where Genly comes from, it is the complete opposite and totally different. Genly is used to seeing genders in his life, but when he comes to Winter, it is hard to grasp the idea of there being no genders and what the state of "kemmer" is. He refers to them as "he" because it's easier. Gethenians also struggle to see Genly as he see himself. They can't grasp the idea of him always staying one gender and he is seen as a pervert and always being in a state of kemmer. This makes Genly feel like the odd one out of the bunch, which he technically is, and a bit strange. Looking at the Gethenians culture and comparing a his culture, he barely sees any comparison, other than facially.
Genly is open to their culture and he is actually interested in learning about their culture because he is the only different one. His curiosity reveals that the world Genly comes from is curiots about things. You can even tell this by seeing how his people decided to explore Winter even before Genly came. This shows the Genly's world is an adventurous, curious world and also is gentle and friendly because Genly came by himself to show that they were not trying to be hostile.
I agree that Genly's curiosity prompted him to come to this new unfamiliar planet just to show that his people weren't trying to be hostile. This demonstrates that he is dedicated to discovering more about these strange people, and it shows how brave he is for potentially risking his life and his people's reputation. While Genly is trying to figure out just how the Gethenian society works, the Gethenians are also trying to figure out why and how Genly is a "pervert" and constantly has a gender.
ReplyDeleteYes, Genly isn't used to the genderless society on Gethen, but that doesn't mean can take the time to understand it befor he makes judgements. His attitude about it various times throughout the book, using sexist comments and claim in his distrust with Estraven because of his bendy gender lol. I just wish Genly would have been more open minded....
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