Analysis Of Le Guin's The Left Hand Of Darkness

Sexuality and gender have been taboo topics for as long as one can remember, and the approach to these topics have ranged from lightly treaded to head-on. A special characteristic of literature is that the messages can be camouflaged, left out in the open, or be left up to the interpretation of the reader. Science fiction has been known to harbor some incredible insights on society through its creation of an endless array of societies and universes and their respective alien norms and characteristics. The New Wave era of science fiction (1960s-70s), influenced by the progressivism following the Civil Rights movement and the introduction of counter culture, birthed many revolutionary works within the genre that refused to shy away from touchy topics, with one of the best known authors being Ursula K. Le Guin. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness the flexibility of science fiction to allow readers an insight into her sharp criticism of human sexuality and gender. The Left Hand of Darkness immediately opens with an introduction on sexuality and gender

As noted by a previous visitor of Winter, “There is no division of humanity into strong and weak halves, protective/protected, dominant/submissive, owner/chattel, active/passive.” (93). There is no stigma related to crying, especially a masculine figure doing so, even though Ai hides himself several times to do so. The absence of war is the most notable. Although there is still conflict and murder, which is within human nature to disagree and fight, Le Guin’s writing suggests that war is a masculine concept. Masculinity and its effects on war has been a widely debated feminist ideal, most famously explored in Carol Cohn’s Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense