Quote:
Originally Posted by Bookpossum
I can’t agree with you on this, issybird. The whole point of the yin-yang symbol is that the opposites are indivisible and make up a whole. Genly comes to see that the Gethenians personify the symbol, even if he still uses terms like man and he when referring to them.
|
That's reasonable, although I still think that Le Guin needed to move outside gender norms to be persuasive.
However, we seem to be stuck on the gender issues that the book has become identified with, to the detriment of everything that was happening. What about the governments? There also seemed to be a bifurcation there, between the autocracy of Karhide and the bureaucracy of Orgoreyn. And what about the religions of the two countries?
I'll say that the portrayal of King Argaven, characterized as both insane and stupid, seemed scarily current. "Worst I fear is the bitter truth" and so he rules through fear. And then there's Tibe, "His speeches were long and loud: praises of Karhide, disparagements of Orgoreyn, vilifications of the 'disloyal factions,' discussions of the 'integrity of the Kingdom's borders,' lectures in history and ethics and economics, all in a ranting, canting emotional tone that went shrill with vituperations or adulations."
Sound like anyone, hmm?