Monday, February 6, 2017
Genies
In the novel we experience many myths in various chapters. One particular myth that stands out to me is "The Nineteenth Day" located in chapter 4. The myth tells of a fellow Gethenian named Berosity and his kemmer partner Herbor. Berosity is told that he will die on the 19th which is very vague, so he asks his kemmer partner to go to the Foreteller and get more information. Herbor asks the Foreteller when Berosity will die and he said after Herbor does. Herbor takes the information and tells Berosity that he will die after he does. Berosity becomes mad because he never asked or answered his question. Now they are both lost and confused on the date of their death. In the end Berosity became to enraged that he killed his kemmer partner then soon killing him self, see the Foreteller did not lie. This shows that the Gethenian culture is similar to the tricky genies. You know how a genie grants you wishes but you have to be specific, this relates to the genie in a strong way. The Foreteller will grant you your question(wish) if you be specific and less vague. For example Herbor asked a vague question and received a vague answer. So it's basically you get what you receive, or the saying closed mouths never get feed. If you don't ask then you won't get what you want.
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I never really thought of it that deeply, but I see how it can resemble the trickiness of asking a genie for a wish. You need to be specific in asking what you want/want to know. I also think of it in a way like you aren't supposed to get everything you want, so they make it difficult with answering vaguely or not giving you exactly what you want. They being the Foretellers and a genie respectively. There are just some things we can't have or can't know.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand where you're coming from and I definitely see the connection you're making between the genies and the Foretellers although I feel like the Foretellers are not looking for trickery, but to provide a window into the future or a wisdom that's unseen by the Gethenians. In the case of Berosity and Herbor, Herbor was simply asking for the answer to a question that is supposed to remain unknown. So the Foreteller gave a vague answer to leave Herbor upset for not receiving his answer, but in actuality he was too self-centered to realize he did . Which ultimately led to his suicide after killing Berosity.
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