The Left Hand Of Darkness By Ursula Le Guin

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In the novel The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin, in the terms of Karl Jung, the anima of the main character, Genly Ai, develops as his relationship with Therem Harth re ir Estraven grows during his time on the planet Gethen. Initially, Ai has a stronger animus archetype, and displays the typical male behaviors of humans. By building a strong relationship with Estraven, an androgynous alien, he is able to change his perspective on the gender roles of human society. When Le Guin’s novel begins, Ai had already been on the planet Gethen for almost two years. Even after that much exposure to the androgynous inhabitants of Gethen, the Gethenians, his perspective still hadn’t changed; He still held a typical animus archetype. As a human from Earth, Ai grew up on a world with a society of distinct genders. The differences between the male and female and the stereotypes associated with each were a driving force in society. Because of this, Ai took on an animus archetype, displaying behaviors that a typical male is supposed to. Part of this early mindset that he had, was a prejudice towards feminine behaviors. Traditionally, males were held in a higher regard than women on Earth. Because of this stereotype, Ai was taught to have a negative predisposition towards femininity. This prejudice can be seen in the first few scenes of the novel when Ai is used by Estraven in a political encounter with Tibe. Ai says he “felt… annoyed by [Tibe’s] sense of effeminate intrigue” (Le Guin). His word choice clearly holds
While they are travelling across the glacier, Estravengoes into kemmer. Because, to the Gethenians, Ai appears to always be in kemmering, Estrevan has to suppress his feelings in order to keep from having intercourse. It’s a struggle for Estrevan because, “the sexual drive of kemmer overrides all other aspects of personality” (——-—-). For Ai, on the other hand, it’s an eye opening

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