Saturday, February 4, 2017
Always Ask Clear and Precise Questions
One of the folktales in The Left Hand of Darkness that stood out to me was "The Nineteenth Day." The readers are able to have a look into who the Foretellers are and why they do the things they do now. This chapter gives the reason of why Genly is advised to word his question wisely, and to not ask a dumb one. It tells a tale of a Gethenian who was curious of when he would die and asked that question. He was not pleased with the Foreteller's response and actually went mad. He was told "The nineteenth day," but was never told of what motn, or what year. As each month passed, and each nineteenth day passed, he grew crazier. Then one day, his kemmering partner wanted to relieve him from his anxiety and went to go ask the Foretellers himself. The Foretellers gave him an answer. An answer that was still as vague as the first answer. The first Gethenian would die after his kemmering partner. So, his kemmering partner went to go tell him the "good" news. The Gethenian got even more mad when he was told the information. It was a waste of a question. He killed his kemmering, and then killed himself later. On the nineteenth day. At the end of this chapter, I got chills. When I read the line that he died on the nineteenth day, I got chills. This chapter was really insightful in showing why Genly was advised to ask a clear, and precise question. He would receive the answer to the question he would ask. The more clear of a question, the more clear of a response.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hey Alyssa! The myth/legend that stood out most to me in this book was the foretelling chapter as well. As you noted there was something chilling about the ending, and it definitely was easier to understand than some of the other myths. The thing with foretelling in the novel is that the person asking the question is never left satisfied with the answer. When the Gethenian did it, he went insane trying to figure out more about his death. Later in chapter five when Genly did it, all he got was a simple "yes." Their questions never really seem to get answered the way they want. At least that's what I gathered from the book.
ReplyDeleteHey Tiffany and Alyssa! I completely agree with you guys! This was one of the most enjoyable and significant folktale to me from the novel because f its importance throughout the book. Not only that but it also has a significance outside of the novel as well. I mean, Genly has to ask questions that are meaningful and they have to be thoroughly thought out because he only gets a chance, which is very surreal in the Gethenian world, but is not the exact same in our world. I mean think about it, here we ask questions everyday, dumb or not, we are not limited to questions. However, does this lack importance because it is not restricted from us? Does this apply only to foretellers in our world? No, right? Here we can ask any foreteller any kind of question we want. Yet, they both are similar because as Tiffany said, "a person is never left satisfied with the answer." However, I do agree with you girls in the sense that this was a very captivating myth in the novel.
Delete