One of Genly Ai's greatest struggles throughout the course of this novel is his constant battle with the cold. As we know, Gethen is also referred to as Winter for a very good reason; Genly, as a human, is not adapted to this perpetual cold like the Gethenians are and therefore has a far more difficult daily life. This struggle perpetuates the feeling of loneliness in Genly's life.
As an example, on his way to the Farm, Genly expresses that he and the other weak members were "recognized as being the least resistant to the cold, and each night we were at the center of the group, the entity of twenty-five, where it was warmest"(pg 170). Even though nobody in the van had ever spoken a word, the Gethenians picked up on Genly's susceptibility to the cold and allowed him into the middle of the pack for more warmth. Although this was an act of kind spirit, it still reinforces Genly's stark difference from the Genthenians- and the physical obviousness of it. As much as he would probably like to forget that he is the only human on a strange far away planet, the cold is always a bitter reminder.
I completely agree with the idea that the cold contributes to Genly's feelings of isolation and loneliness because it is just one more thing that he does not have in common with those that live on Gethen. In addition to being a male all of the time and having trouble with concepts like shifgrethor, he has difficulty doing simple tasks because of the harsh weather on Gethen. Since he is the only human from Earth on Gethen he is not able to completely connect or relate to anyone on this planet. The freezing climate makes him feel even more disconnected from the Gethenians and is something that he is not able to escape.
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