As we've discussed in class, Le Guin incorporates a large number of binary oppositions and Genly is forced to come to terms with each internal and external challenge he encounters. These binaries, such as light and dark and male and female, are addressed in Taoist philosophy, ideas from which Le Guin frequently utilizes throughout the course of her text.
Taoist principles are based in balance and harmony, living as one with Tao, or “the way.” Many people associate Taoism with the yin yang symbol, or the Taijitu, a swirl of black and white with a white or black dot inside, showing light and dark as one. In the yin yang and in Taoism, yin is considered passive and feminine and yang is considered active or aggressive and masculine. Although in many societies, especially contemporary American society, male and female are seen as separate and oftentimes unequal. It is considered out of the normative if a woman acts in a traditionally "masculine" way, like using power tools or grilling out, or if a man carefully chooses what he looks like each day or keeps a clean house and is considered “wimpy” or “feminine.”
Taoist principles toss these notions aside. When looking at the Taijitu symbol, it becomes clear that the large white section, representing yang, has dark, yin, within. It is the same with the large black section, containing a small white circle, representing yang. In Taoist philosophy, one is neither masculine nor feminine, but a mix of both, and it is beautiful.
Le Guin throws these principles at Genli Ai during his time on Winter. On the planet, the people are both male and female, and Genly does not trust his traveling partner, Estroven, because of his dual genders. In Genly’s society, males and females are separate genders and are seen as different types of people. He struggles for the majority of the book as he attempts to classify Estroven as either male or female, and he states, “I had been afraid to give (acceptance). I had not wanted to give my trust, my friendship to a man who was a woman, to a woman who was a man” (267). Genly cannot get past his structured binary categorization in order to see that Estroven was willing to sacrifice everything he had— his political power, his family, and even his life— so Genly could complete his mission.
Soon, that same night, Genly realizes that he does not need to have everything in common with Estroven in order for the two to be friends. In fact, it was their differences rather than their similarities that drew them together, another example of yin and yang, two opposites coming together to form a whole friendship.
Even on a broader spectrum, the joining of light and dark weaves its way through the text. When Genly and Estroven move across the ice, Genly is bewildered by the absence of darkness and shadow, as well as the absence of light within the dark snowstorms. Estroven recites a poem about light and dark, explaining that the two “(lie) together like lovers in kemmer… /like the end and the way” (252). Later, Estroven states that “we need the shadows in order to walk” (286). Without the two, it is not possible to know one, much like the Taijitu suggests; light is part of dark and in darkness there is light.
Likewise, Genly is able to accept Estroven’s masculinity and femininity as a part of him, a part that defines the whole. Once Genly believes that Estroven’s femininity does not compromise him as a human being, but instead enhance his humanity, he is able to give him the entirety of his friendship (267). The yin and yang and Taoism is again echoed here, underlining the necessity for both masculine and feminine qualities in humanity. As LeGuin says in the introduction, “the future, in fiction, is a metaphor” (xix). This novel is not a “what would happen if” novel, but a “is” novel. People are both masculine and feminine, and perhaps Le Guin is suggesting that in order to make a world livable for any gender, people must know one to define the other and accept both in order to understand gender as a whole. Taoism supports this theory, especially with the Taijitu symbol, emphasizing two halves, mixed, to create a whole, existing in harmony with each other.
I find these observations very enlightening. The dichotomy of light and darkness reminds me of an interesting parallel, and may perhaps add to the discussion.
ReplyDeleteThere is a Christian writer of the 4th century AD named Gregory of Nyssa, who writes in Greek along with his brother Basil and friend Gregory Nazianzen. One of Gregory of Nyssa's works re-narrates the story of Moses and Mt. Sinai, a tale that Dr. Renzi mentioned last class. Gregory explains, in his treatise on Exodus, that Moses saw God's divine 'light' upon seeing the burning bush, and was embraced by God's power and presence. God was in the light, and God was the light. However, Moses also encounters God in his divine 'darkness'. The ascent of Moses on Mt. Sinai brought him closer to a very dark cloud at the mountain's peak, where God resided. The darkness represents Moses' (and our own) inability to fully comprehend and understand God's essence.
I feel that one of the ways in which this book challenges our contemporary thinking is the portrayals of light and dark symbols. Ordinarily, light is supposed to embody goodness, and darkness to embody evil. After reading this book however, citing the passages mentioned previously in this blog, it is clear to me that darkness is not always necessarily evil per se, but is sometimes a part of a greater whole that can only be understood when light and darkness are combined. Surely, there are other examples in Le Guin's book that challenge other notions that we often assume too quickly when reading any text.
-Brandon Gerlinger