Gethen’s Pace: Slowly but Surely

Gethen’s Pace: Slowly but Surely

In Le Guin’s novel, Genly Ai’s mission is slowed down by the Gethenians’ (“Can you correct the spelling mistakes and punctuation mistakes”) speed of life. Indeed, the Envoy is foreign to this planet, but also to their indifference towards change. Therefore, the Terran concept of traffic is used to highlight the speed of life on Gethen. Genly experiences it on his way to the Handarra, the religion of many inhabitants, and reacts: “[…] I was impatient with the methodical pace of the caravan; I wanted to get out and run” (Le Guin 52). Genly’s language in this passage shows his unwillingness to follow the pace of Gethen inhabitants and his desire to break through and go to his own Terran’s speed. By the Envoy’s urge to escape the uncomfortable situation of standardized traffic, this passage reveals an important part of the society that Genly has not yet understood: their lack of desire for progress. This characteristic of Gethenian culture is essential to Genly’s task, as if he disrupts the natural course of events, he will not succeed. Moreover, inhabitants of Gethen are not people of action, they choose to follow the change instead of causing it (“Can you correct the spelling mistakes and punctuation mistakes”) concerning their independence as a planet. After his foretelling session, Faxe, the Weaver, answers Genly Ai’s (“Can you correct the spelling mistakes and punctuation mistakes”) preoccupations about changes on Gethen: "And I'll change with it, Genry. But I have no wish to change it" (Le Guin 72). The text shows the desire of the Gethenians not to alter the course of events since the Weaver has no interest in provoking change. By Faxe’s philosophy, Genly observes that the inhabitants are not avidly

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looking for change. This is relevant to the Envoy duty of bringing them into the Ekumen since his project consists of a major shift for Gethen. Briefly, the pace of life will not help him in his mission because he does not understand it well eno

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