Quote:
Originally Posted by Bookpossum
One other theme we haven’t explored, of which I was reminded by Le Guin’s essay, was that of loyalty and betrayal. Genly felt at the end that he had betrayed Therem by bringing down his colleagues before Therem’s condemnation as a traitor had been revoked. Therem was betrayed by the man who owed him loyalty.
Did Therem feel he had betrayed Arek by going on living, and having another relationship? I think he did, given his reaction when Genly mindspoke to him in what seemed to be Arek’s voice.
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I also think he did. And betrayed Ashe Foreth as well, with his second kemmering vow after the first taboo one.
When Genly first mentioned that having a single child with one's sibling was licit, but that the siblings had to break up afterwards and were prohibited from vowing to each other, I thought it was clunky, that it stuck out. Why have this? First, of course, the modern reader finds the concept of incest icky, so to speak. But alien race, so ok, just another example of Le Guin's getting everything out there. But why allow it and then forbid it? Is it icky, or isn't it? You could argue bloodline in its favor in regard to property, but why only the one time? Or you could argue eugenics against it, but then why allow it at all? It didn't make sense to me, but then it turned out that it provided a necessary plot point.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
And yes, Therem is betrayed by a person who owed him loyalty, but I got the sense that it was not unexpected by Therem, that perhaps Therem even felt that it was deserved. I was almost surprised to see Therem make a run for it, but perhaps that was as much to force a quick end as anything else.
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I agree with this, too, and not only that, that Therem knowingly forced the situation by insisting that calling the ship had to be Genly's first action. However, I thought it a little tired and obvious to sacrifice the character who had essentially redeemed himself, for the sake of love. But that said, I don't know that there was an alternative; it wasn't going to be hugs and puppies afterward for Genly and Therem.
I continue to struggle with this book, trying to figure it out. Overall, I think Le Guin's execution wasn't up to the ideas she was trying to convey, and that she was taking on too much at once in a rather slender novel. Even she seems to concede that, with her changing take on the story in the various essays she wrote over time (although as we've said, I'd have preferred it if she'd shut up about it).
I think it's a pity that the focus seems almost entirely on the gender issue, and issues of politics, nationality and religion have subsided into the background. I'm not sure there's a lot to say about the different means of government, but I think the extent to which the different societies reflected their different religions is potentially fascinating.
And no one's said it yet, so I will. George R.R. Martin was inspired by the Wars of the Roses in creating his monumental epic, but the influence of Le Guin is also obvious. Winterfell and "winter is coming," the Old Gods as a representation of Handara and the Faith as a representation of Yomeshta, and the influence of religion on politics and nation-states is obvious.
As I've said, I know nothing at all about the genre, so I'm sure that
Left Hand represented a seismic shift and that many other works reflect its influence, but I'm clueless.