Before beginning to read the novel, you should choose one of the three perspectives as a focus for reading. You can be a “psychologist,” an “anthropologist,” or a “political officer.” As you read, you will keep your particular perspective in mind, looking for information relevant to your questions.
The psychologist should pay attention to the main characters, Genly Ai and Estraven, and their relationships with some of the other characters, such as Tibe and Argaven. Throughout your reading you will encounter “character questions,” such as these:
- What kind of personality does this character have? How can you tell?
- What are the strong points of this character?
- What are the weak points?
- What is this character trying to do?
- What motivates this character?
- What obstacles does this character face?
- How does this character change through the course of the novel?
- What causes the character to change?
- What does the character learn?
- What kind of language would a psychologist use to describe a person? Identify those kinds of words from the text and create a page for them in your vocabulary notebook.
The anthropologist should pay attention to foods, etiquette and standards of behavior, cultural practices and concepts, religious ideas, significant words, marriage and family customs, and all the ways that people in a society interact with one another. Throughout your reading, you will encounter “culture questions,” such as these:
- How are Gethenians different from us?
- How does the cold affect Gethenian culture?
- What do Gethenians eat and drink? How is their diet different from ours?
- What is the equivalent of marriage on Gethen?
- How do Gethenians organize families?
- What kind of technology do Gethenians have?
- What kinds of weapons do Gethenians have?
- What are the major religions on Gethen? How are they different?
- What is shifgrethor? (This is an important Gethenian concept, somewhat different from any American one.)
- What kind of language would an anthropologist use to describe a person, place, or situation? Identify those kinds of words from the text and create a page for them in your vocabulary notebook.
The political officer has an interesting job. The Left Hand of Darkness was written during the Cold War, when the United States and the Soviet Union were two nuclear-armed superpowers with very different political systems and beliefs. In one sense, this novel explores those different political beliefs. Every Soviet naval vessel had a political officer whose job it was to make sure that the crew remained true to Soviet political beliefs. In some ways, the political officer was more powerful than the captain. In your reading of The Left Hand of Darkness, the political officer should think about “political questions,” such as these:
- What kind of government does Karhide have? Who has power, and what kind of power do they have?
- What aspects of Karhide have remained the same for hundreds of years? What aspects are changing?
- What kind of government does Orgoreyn have? Who has power, and what kind of power do they have?
- How is the government of Karhide different from the government of Orgoreyn?
- Which of the two countries would you prefer to live in? Why?
- In Orgoreyn, what is the Sarf?
- What kind of communication system do Gethenians have, and who controls it?
- What is the Ekumen? Is it a government? What is it trying to do, and why?