When It Changed

I wonder what the tragedy that happened thirty generations ago was. I was also thinking about the radiation and drug problems and how they affected the genes of the people. Also, I do not understand how the people of Whileaway reproduce, since all the men died six generations ago. The narrator explains "the word [men] had not had a meaning on Whileaway for six centuries." Are the women kind of like the people on Gethen?

What does the quote, "Humanity is unnatural. Seals are harem animals and so are men; apes are promiscuous and so are men; there are even celibate men and homosexual men. There are homosexual cows, I believe. But Whileaway is still missing something" mean? I was thinking that there is so many things that humans have, but there is still something that the population is missing. I wonder what the man is really trying to say.

Blog #4

If I was to decide between the "long sweep westward and so up gradually onto the plateau of ice"or "climbing the ice-cliffs a mile north" (page 227), I would have definately chosen the long way, like Estraven. I would not want to risk having someone fall, because if one of the two people breaks a bone, any hope of reaching the border is gone.

I was also wondering why the sign said "Death, Death" on page 220. Some people in class said that it forshadows someone's death later on in the book. But I don't think it foreshadows anything. I was thinking that it is just saying how nothing grows in the valley that Estraven and Genly are going to. "Nothing grows here. Rock, peddle-dump, boulder-fields, clay, mud."

Also, I thought it was interesting how Genly doesn't remember what women are like, but he remembers what men are like. He says, "In a sense, women are more alien to me than you are. With you I share one sex, anyhow..." He says that he doesn't remember what women are like because he hasn't been with any of them, but he hasn't been with any men either. I also don't know why Genly says, "I share one sex," because Estraven isn't male like Genly; he's both.

Blogger #3

I do not understand why Estraven does not tell Genly Ai that he was supporting him in his mission of bringing Gethen into the Ekumen. If Estraven had told Genly earlier, they might have avoided all this trouble. When the two were talking at Estraven's place in Ehrenrang, for instance, Genly was not sure what he was trying to tell him. Also at Mishnory in Orgoreyn, Genly even thought that he could not trust Estraven.

Before I read this chapter, I thought that Estraven is definately not one of the people that someone can trust. I did not know what he was up to and why he was doing it. After I read this, I realize that his actions are for altruistic reasons, and not selfish gains. If someone sacrifices their reputation and risks their life to save you, you have to trust them.

I was also wondering why Le Guin switches perspectives every chapter. It is really hard to figure out whose point of view it is from every chapter. Every time I start reading a chapter, I figure out who is telling the story around two pages into the chapter. If she does this so often, why doesn't she just write in the third person?

Blog #2

I don't understand why Le Guin explains what kemmering is this late into the book (chapter seven). If I knew what kemmering meant earlier, understanding some of the previous passages would have been much easier. I had a vague idea of what it was from the context clues, but I always had to skip over it which made me think that I didn't really know what was going on.

I was wondering why the Gethenians, especially the Karhidians, would want to be separate from the Ekumans. The Ekumans, being such a large league of worlds across the universe, wants to establish communication and cooperation in its union. Gethen, being such an undeveloped planet, should be apart of this union in order to catch up to the rest of the worlds' technology. For example, when Genly Ai came down to Gethen from space in his "rocket", the Gethenians didn't even know that things can be flown through the air, let alone through space.

I also don't understand why Estraven is known as a traitor. The three people wanted to kill him, and he was just protecting himself when he killed them. He also brought peace between the two sides fighting over the disputed lands. He should be known as a hero instead of a traitor.

Blog #1

It is interesting how the world of Gethen is so different from ours. We always want to finish the things that we do in as little time as possible. We drive faster than the speed limit on a regular basis, even if it tis against the law. Gethenians, however, travel at a rate of twenty five miles an hour, even if they can go faster. I know that I would never survive at Gethen because of the sluggish pace of life. They feel that "progress is less important than presence."

In chapter three, it mentions that Karhiders do not read much. They get most of their information from the radio. Televisions and books are very rare and newspapers do not even exist. I am not a big fan of reading, but a world without books or newspapers is absurd. Although it may sound awesome at first, it is actually very inconvenient. How do they learn in school? What do Karhiders do when they want to know something?

Also, since everyone in their world is bisexual, people with one gender are called "perverts." They are "tolerated with some disdain" and are nicknamed "halfdeads." In our world, people who are heterosexual are considered normal and those who are not are discriminated against in many places.