A super brief summary of the novel 'The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin.
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1. The Left Hand of Darkness Summarised in Minutes
2. The story opens with a Parade, and the planet Gethen is described.
3. Genly meets Estraven.
4. King Argaven banishes Estraven but does not blame Genly and allows him to travel onward freely.
5. Trip to the oracles (Foretellers), they tell him his mission will be successful.
6. Estraven leaves Karhide meets his ex-partner who offers him money he does not take.
7. Genly applies to visit Orgoreyn, Estraven’s ex-partner gives him money to deliver to Estraven.
8. Upon arriving in Orgoreyn, Genly is warmly received, he is put up in a house full of luxuries he had forgotten about during his time on ‘Winter’ (Karhide).
9. Estraven tries to warn him of opponents he has in this country, but Genly does not trust him.
10. Karhide and Orgoreyn are beginning to fight a war, something not well understood or practiced on this planet.
11. Genly is arrested and placed in a concentration camp, known as a “volunteer farm”.
12. He is rescued from prison by Estraven who stuns him and carries him out.
13. The war starts.
14. Genly and Estraven communicate more closely and without manners, he also tries to teach Estraven mind-speak, but Estraven does not like it.
15. Genly and Estraven travel across the glacier, Estraven advises him to call down his ship for proof of his genuineness.
16. They both reach the border, but Estraven runs towards the border guards and is shot, which she would have been well aware of.
17. Genly’s mission is completed successfully, King Argaven accepts the Ekumen’s proposal.
The Left Hand of Darkness is a science fiction novel by U.S. writer Ursula K. Le Guin, published in 1969. The novel became immensely popular and established Le Guin's status as a major author of science fiction.[6]
The novel follows the story of Genly Ai, a native of Terra, who is sent to the planet of Gethen as an envoy of the Ekumen, a loose confederation of planets. Ai's mission is to persuade the nations of Gethen to join the Ekumen, but he is stymied by his lack of understanding of Gethenian culture. Individuals on Gethen are "ambisexual", with no fixed gender identity. This fact has a strong influence on the culture of the planet, and creates a barrier of understanding for Ai. Left Hand was among the first books published in the feminist science fiction genre and is the most famous examination of androgyny in science fiction.[7] A major theme of the novel is the effect of sex and gender on culture and society, explored in particular through the relationship between Ai and Estraven, a Gethenian politician who trusts and helps him. Within that context the novel also explores the interaction between the unfolding loyalties of its main characters, the loneliness and rootlessness of Ai, and the contrast between the religions of Gethen's two major nations. The theme of gender also touched off a feminist debate when it was first published, over depictions of the ambisexual Gethenians.
