The Story of Estraven and Genly Ai in The Left Hand of Darkness

Although Ursula K. Le Guin's novel “The Left Hand of Darkness” deals with issues such as gender and equality, the focus is also on language barriers and the friendships that emerge from them. At the beginning of the book, Le Guin shows how the Earth-born protagonist, Genly Ai, or as the inhabitants of the Gethen universe call him, an alien, a pervert, has disagreements with Therem Harth rem ir Estraven, the prime minister of Karhide, and how the two become friends through the journey they take at the end of the book. Until this friendship is established, the biggest causes of disagreements between the two characters are cultural differences, linguistic problems, and personal prejudices. 

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

Terra, the “world” where Genly Ai comes from, is opposite to the world of the Karhiders. So much so that the Karhiders do not even believe that such a world exists, and they cannot understand Genly Ai’s culture and empathize with him. This is also true for Genly Ai. Even though he is on his mission and tries to understand the people who live there, he is constantly left with questions. He says: “As if always aware that I see and judge as an alien” (Le Guin 7). This discourse by Genly Ai may be the best description of cultural differences. The other thing is gender. We cannot say that the Gethen universe has gender because the inhabitants are hermaphroditic neuters—neither male nor female. Genly Ai's lack of understanding of this situation affects his approach to Estraven, and this leads to miscommunication. “…seeing a Gethenian first as a man, then as a woman, forcing him into those categories so irrelevant to his nature and so essential to my own…I thought that at table Estraven's performance had been womanly, all charm and tact and lack of substance, specious and adroit. Was it in fact perhaps this soft supple femininity that I disliked and distrusted in him? For it was impossible to think of him as a woman, that dark, ironic, powerful presence near me in the firelit darkness, and yet whenever I thought of him as a man I felt a sense of falseness, of imposture: in him, or in my own attitude towards him? His voice was soft and rather resonant but not deep, scarcely a man's voice, but scarcely a woman's voice either…” (Le Guin 10). These words from Genly Ai show how difficult it is to navigate gender and culture. We see Genly Ai as a man, and in his world, there is nothing such as Kemmer or this kind of gender thing. It is like a dream to see and witness this in another world. 

LINGUISTIC PROBLEMS

Language barriers are another problem for Genly Ai. In the book, we read that another researcher came before and worked on the language, but even so, some words are very difficult for Genly Ai to translate. Even if for some words he can find the correct translation, he is still unable to perceive exactly what the word means. This creates another communication problem. The main reason for this conflict is the interconnectedness of language and culture. Sometimes your words carry the rules of that culture and even if you translate them, you cannot understand the underlying meaning because you do not know the culture. Genly Ai has exactly this problem. “I am not sure of the proper historical equivalent of his position, vizier or prime minister or councillor; the Karhidish word for it means the King's Ear.” (Le Guin 7). Another issue is shifgrethor. Genly Ai seems to both understand and not understand what this word means and what it refers to. “No doubt this was all a matter of shifgrethor— prestige, face, place, the pride-relationship, the untranslatable and all-important principle of social authority in Karhide and all civilizations of Gethen. And if it was I would not understand it.” (Le Guin 11). Such language barriers are one of the biggest problems for Estraven and Genly Ai because language is an indispensable tool for communication.

PERSONAL PREJUDICES

Personal prejudices apply to both Estraven and Genly Ai. Neither of them trusts the other at a certain point. Sometimes Genly Ai interprets Estraven's advice or warnings not as a helping hand, but as if he were an enemy and wished him harm. On the other hand, Estraven wants to help Genly Ai, but Genly Ai is still an alien to him. This reality cannot be changed. “His ironies, and these ins and outs of a border dispute with Orgoreyn, were of no interest to me. I returned to the matter that lay between us. Trust him or not, I might still get some use out of him.” (Le Guin 12). We read through a stream of consciousness that Genly Ai sometimes gets angry because of Estraven's sentences, and these dialogues create even more prejudice in him. It is normal for these two beings to be prejudiced against each other. It is like a process they have to go through for their eventual friendship.

At some point, Estraven helps Genly Ai by freeing him from prison. This help constitutes a sign of trust for Genly Ai. They have endless conversations on their journey together. This journey is an excellent advantage for both of them to break prejudices because as they talk and see that efforts are made to complete this journey, trust is established. Le Guin allows us to describe the two of them who overcome communication barriers. 

Work Cited

Le Guin, Ursula K. The Left Hand Of Darkness, 1969.