In the Myth The place inside the blizzard , you read it and are just utterly lost. But again you continue to read and you see a very big connection between this myth and the situation that Estraven had gone through with his brother and it is very much alike and similar. I think this particular myth shows how in this culture it is somewhat ok to be with your sibling in kemmer but that you are not allowed to vow kemmer. This culture allows incest but doesn't allow you to in a way marry your sibling.
In The Nineteenth Day I am still really not sure at how it ties in with the book other than explain a little about the foretellers. It to me shows more irony and is kind of an entertainment story or folktale. I am not sure really what the purpose is and would love if someone could explain to me how it ties in with our story.
I totally get what you mean when you say that the folktales are kind of confusing when trying to tie it to the rest of the story. I'm not really sure, but for The Nineteenth Day, I think the purpose of it is to give more insight into the Foretelling and into kemmer as well.
ReplyDeleteUltimately, the story shows that the foretelling was exactly correct, so we can assume that the answer given to Genly later on about the Ekumen will probably be correct too. However, I notice that in the prophecy in the folktale, a lot of important, life-changing information was left out (like the fact that the two characters would be the death of each other). Because of that, I feel like something crazy will also happen at the end of the book that the Foretellers kept secret.
And with the idea of kemmer, we see that in the story, the bond was so strong that when one of them murdered the other, he could not bear to live. This shows another example of the strength of kemmer mentioned throughout the novel.
I understand, it can be very confusing to have such crucial stories everywhere in the novel! I personally love that though! I love having the author throw the reader of track and making them wonder "why is this here?" only to find out later how important they are as you read on. The story of the siblings pledging kemmer to each other is very important because it makes us have a better understanding of Estraven. It shows that no matter how many morals and understanding he may seem to have, he committed one of the biggest crimes in Gethen. It may seem ironic but at the same time it isn't, it just shows the reason as to why Estraven IS understanding and why he understand's others pains. He has gone through the unimaginable and we see that parallel with the story through the brother's pain.
ReplyDeleteOver all, the other stories are all pretty clear as they try to explain to the reader what the world Gethen is like. The Foretellers was more like a foreshadow and explained how they worked for the next chapter to come.
I agree with the confusion. At first, I didn't get why the stories were where they are, but now it makes sense. It makes the story complete. It's almost like putting together a puzzle, and once you put all the pieces together then it begins to make sense. The author wanted us to see the connection as we read. For example, the story of the blizzard we later see the connection in chapter 6. If we didn't have that story then we wouldn't be able to make the connection.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to your confusion. It took me a couple reads to kind of get a grasp at what the myths were trying to say. The way I see it is that "The Place Inside a Blizzard" was inserted early in the book to further our knowledge on Gethenian culture. It introduced us to kemmer and showed us that it is okay to mate with your family. Then later, like you said, it tied in with Estraven and his whole situation. The myth of "The Nineteenth Day" was placed there by the author to give a little more background of the Gethenian culture.
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