Wave 3 blog

Throughout the novel, I noticed that the small myths embedded into the chapters all connect to either the Gethen way of life, or particularly, Estraven. For example, in chapter 2, two brothers vow kemmering together. this is allowed, but they are not allowed to stay in kemmering after they have had a child. Nevertheless, they stayed together anyway. When they were forced to separate, one of the brothers "despaired and would hear no comfort or counsel, and procuring poison, committed suicide" (22). This reflects how much it this is looked down upon in Gethen. Also, it shows how suicide is frowned upon because once one of the brothers committed suicide, the other one was exiled and blamed for a crime. This passage relates to Estraven because he was also exiled and had to go north across the ice to escape tumult, as Getheren did in the myth. Another example is "The Nineteenth Day" in chapter 4. In this myth, someone named Berosty asks the foretellers when he will die. Since the foretellers need very specific questions to give reasonable answers, and Berosty asks a vague question, he gets the vague answer of "the 19th day of any month." After that, he sends in his kemmering partner, Herbor, to ask again. After offering his life as a trade for an answer, he is also given a vague answer of "longer than Herbor." After Herbor is killed by Berosty for not getting the right answers, Bereosity hangs himself on the nineteenth day. This explains how the foretellers need a very specific question to go off of, and foreshadows how Genly must be careful when he visits the foretellers in chapter 5.