Molly Fenn

 

 

 

 

English 4

 

 

 

 

December 8, 2013

 

 

 

 

Fear the Worst

 

In The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin, even though Genly expresses the benefits of the possible relation adequately enough, Karhide should not join Ekumen because its society and people are technologically, morally and physically different from Ekumen. The King’s decision is logical and reasonable and I would have done the same because my decision could affect the whole country, and possibly even the whole planet. Ekumen and Winter could almost be representations of the Democrat and the Republican Party; while they both want what are good for their people/voters, their positions on basically all aspects of life are significantly different. Likewise, even when Mr. Ai’s argument was logical, coherent and sincere, he couldn’t persuade the King because of the values the King holds; just as one party cannot surrender and support the other party even if it’s proposal could be beneficial for both sides. When Mr. Ai attempts to impress the King with his ansible communicator (instant communication device), the King responds with apathy and disrespect by saying, “I don’t like tricks, Mr. Ai” (40) and “I don’t speak Voidish”… (39). Rather than seeing the advanced technology of the Ekumen as a possible future for the Winter, the King perceives it as a threat. He is implicitly sees the technology as a matter that could possibly destroy the thousands of years old traditions of Karhide that existed even before him. Also the King’s disrespectful battitude toward any type of technology is extent of his conserved and traditional views that are common for many citizens of Karhide. It is not hard to describe the attitude of the people of Ekumen. With their technological advances and alliance ideas, they present themselves to be very adventurous and progressive compared to the Karhiders. Mr. Ai briefly compares the mindset of his people (Terrans) and Karhiders by pointing out, “Terrans tend to feel that they’ve got to get ahead, make progress. The people of Winter, who always live in the Year One, feel that progress is less important than presence” (52). Even when it comes to values, the people of each side have different virtues and morals. If they were to join, I cannot imagine them getting along and working together because while one side sees into the future, the other lives in the now. Instead of showing interest in the races of Ekumen and its people, the king Argaven explicitly states that “…Mr. Ai, and I don’t see human beings here on earth should want or tolerate any dealings with creatures so monstrously different” (38). While this shouldn’t be an issue, the King sees the permanent sexuality of the Ekumen people as perversion and threat to kemmering tradition in not only Karhide but also Winter. Mr. Ai, who lived his whole life with people of permanent sexuality, doesn’t find any problem with the kemmering but the King believes that the kemmering could be adulterated and weakened by the influence of sexually different species of Ekumen. But I believe his fear is mostly due to unfamiliarity and ignorance; he cannot and doesn’t want to imagine seeing, living and associating with people who are so “monstrously different” from the those who he lived with his whole life. While the king is very narrow minded and biased on his views of Ekumen, he couldn’t join Ekumen by just trusting Mr. Ai’s words alone. Rather than focusing on the possible benefits, King Argaven chose to focus on the possible consequences for the sake of his kingdom. He not only fears a possibility of colonization because the Ekumen and Karhide are so distinctly different but also because he cannot imagine any better results from unification. Like Democrats and the Republicans, Ekumen and Karhide will not unite until Karhide realizes that they both want the same thing – prosperity.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​