The Left Hand of Darkness

Transcripts from an ancient Gethen text tell about the nature of time and humankind’s perception of it. A poor Gethen named Sheny asks the avatar of time, Meshe, how they will feed their child. Meshe tells them of a 10,000-year-old treasure buried in a stone field, but also tells of the misfortunes surrounding the treasure. Meshe talks mysteriously about a tree which keeps one of its leaves a secret while displaying the rest. Meshe’s vision is endless and nearly all-seeing. Meshe declares that darkness and light, beginning and end, are the same.

Genly is upset at the extent of Estraven’s knowledge and goes to confer with Obsle. The commensal is not in, and Genly has less luck finding other members of the council. Shusgis explains at dinner that there is a festival going on, and that Estraven is just embittered. However, police wake Genly in his bed after midnight under no pretext and take him to the Kundershaden Prison.

Genly is drugged and interrogated for several days, then detained for so long that he begins to forget which month it is. One day, in his drugged state, he wakes to find himself in a windowless prison caravan crammed with 25 other prisoners. In the darkness of the cabin, the prisoners are poorly fed and watered. Two people die on the five-day journey, but the guards do not collect their bodies. Though Genly does not learn the names of his fellow prisoners, he notes their cooperation and kindness even under these extreme conditions.

The truck travels deep into the countryside, into the mountains, where the air becomes thin and extremely cold. Thirst becomes a greater problem than hunger by the time the truck stops at a place euphemistically named the Pulefen Commensality Third Voluntary Farm and Resettlement Agency. It is a forced-labor camp for political prisoners and refugees. It is in the middle of a large forest, and the camp is designed to process lumber.

Genly finds that the camp is run without any drama or cruelty, though the prisoners are underfed and drugged with something that suppresses their kemmer cycle and makes them listless. The guards are considered probationary prisoners, motivated by slightly better shares of food and warmer clothing. They frequently interrogate the prisoners to no obvious purpose. Genly finds that the anti-kemmering drugs are slowly making his non-Gethen body sick. While infirm, he meets a dying carpenter named Asra, with whom he exchanges stories. Asra finds Genly’s stories of another world fascinating and strange. He dies soon after.

Estraven is also in danger. The arrest of Genly Ai was performed at the behest of a paranoid faction of Sarf operatives. No stranger to politics, Estraven invents an intricate double-agent intrigue between Karhide and Orgeryn, assuring that Shusgis will be implicated in the plot. By blackmailing Shusgis, he discovers where Genly is being held and why. Estraven goes to the Karhide embassy and gives word concerning the Envoy to the officials of his estranged country.

Estraven alters his working papers and escapes the city anonymously by truck. He worries about Genly’s vulnerability to the cold of Gethen. Estraven takes on fur-trapping work in the deep forests south of where Genly is held, and then buys full gear and treks through the snow and ice with a group of hunters. In a town called Tulefin, Estraven leaves the hunters and begins to gather a sledge and supplies for two people, burying some nearby. Estraven forges his papers again to make them look like the papers of a security guard. By the time Estraven reaches Pulefen work camp, a month has passed.

Estraven easily gains entrance to the Pulefen prison. Though Pulefin guards are also considered prisoners, the officials do not confiscate Estraven’s warm clothing owing to the lateness of the hour. Estraven pilfers a nonlethal gun laying around the kitchen. He soon discovers an unconscious Genly in an informal tour of the prison. Before dawn, Estraven collects Genly. He enters dothe-strength and then stuns Genly with the gun to keep him unconscious. Dragging Genly, Estraven declares to a series of guards that the prisoner is dead and must be buried outside. In dothe, Estraven easily carries Genly, and they clear the prison grounds before the alarm sounds. Estraven travels along a river to hide their tracks, finds the buried supplies, and then disguises them both as a trapper pulling a load of pelts. They travel north and east, setting up camp when Estraven’s dothe-strength gives out. They both sleep for over a day. The snow falls heavily.

For several days, Estraven cares for Genly, who sometimes babbles incoherently between bouts of unconsciousness. The Envoy finally becomes lucid, recognizing Estraven, who determines that the anti-kemmering drugs given to Genly would have killed him before long. Estraven explains that he is one of the Handdarra, able to invoke dothe voluntarily.

When Genly asks why Estraven broke him out of prison, Estraven becomes angry. Genly never understood the subtlety with which Estraven attempted to steer and protect the outsider. It was always Estraven’s wish to help Genly successfully complete his mission, he explains. Estraven asks to be taught the Ekumen mind-speech, and Genly agrees.

Genly, waking from his deadly slumber, sees Estraven in a new light, ascribing new forthrightness and honesty to him. As Genly heals and becomes more capable, they discuss their next steps. They are low on food and money, and the incredibly harsh winter of Gethen is setting in. Their only avenue is to return to Karhide, a thousand-mile journey across rough and icy country. The journey requires luck to be successful, but Estraven has resourceful knowledge of the lands between. Genly may not survive the journey, owing to his alien physiognomy.

While Estraven forages for supplies, Genly considers Estraven’s relationship to luck, which is similar to the Foreteller’s ability to read the future. Again, he finds new respect for Estraven’s resourcefulness. He practices walking using the snowshoes Estraven has given him. After some time, Estraven returns with a sack of food, which he rations with great care. The route Estraven plots takes them through uninhabited country to the north, and across a 600-mile ice sheet into Karhide. Since Obsle confiscated Genly’s communication device, there is no easy way to communicate with Genly’s ship.

Their journey begins with optimism. Though their sledge is heavy, it glides across the snow, and the two become companions, asking one another about their work and the worlds from which they come. They learn to call one another by intimate names. Genly wonders to himself what it will mean for their intimacy once Estraven enters kemmer.

They travel on, under a sun which rarely sets. Estraven proves a capable hunter. An uphill climb and a warm spell make passage hard as the snow melts and rain falls. They must wait out the rain, and Genly becomes slightly ill from the hunted meat. The travel becomes harder in the rocky hills, and Estraven looks after Genly closely. The two become better at navigating the rocky foothills. When they reach the great ice field, they are awed by the beauty and danger before them. They travel forward with optimism.