LHD: Summary

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Plot

The overall plot of the novel is very simple. An envoy from Earth, or Terra, as Le Guin calls it, named Genly Ai comes to persuade the people of the planet Gethen, or Winter, as the Terrans call it, for it is in a perpetual state of winter, to join the Ekumen, a group of hundreds of planets in a trade alliance. The most important aspect of the novel is the Gethenian’s sexuality, or lack thereof, for Gethen is a predominantly androgynous society. For more information, see the content on Gethenian Sexuality.

The novel begins in the Gethenian nation of Karhide, in which the Gethenians are celebrating a parade and festival. Here we are introduced to Estraven, the king’s prime minister, and we learn that the king is both insane and rather fickle. Another political figure, Tibe, manages to convince the king to exile Estraven, leaving Ai without an ally, so he chooses to leave Karhide before the political situation gets any more unfavorable for him. He crosses the border into Orgoreyn, the neighboring nation, but is soon stopped and detained as a refugee because he lacks the documentation required of all people living in Orgoreyn. However, the Orgota government soon learns of the envoy’s prescence in their country and takes him to stay in their own homes. Ai is soon caught between two Orgota political factions, the SARF and the Free Trade Faction. When the SARF gain the upper hand in the ruling body, they overpower the Free Trade Faction, who have been advocating that Orgoreyn join the Ekumen, and Ai is sent to Pulefen Farm, a remote work farm in which criminals are forced to perform menial labor. Here he is given drugs to prevent “kemmer” the Gethenian sexual cycle, and other drugs so that he will reveal information about the Karhidish government. However, these drugs make him deathly ill and the farm lacks any kind of healthcare. Luckily, Estraven, who has moved to Orgoreyn during his exile, kidnaps Ai by pretending to be a guard and uses all of his money to buy supplies so that he and Ai can trudge over the dangerous Gobrin Ice into Karhide, so that Ai can return to safety. The trek is long and hard, but Ai and Estraven develop a special relationship in which they learn to trust one another, despite their profound differences. Ai begins to see Estraven as a person, rather than as a kind of genetic experiment gone wrong, and Estraven, too, begins to see Ai as a person, rather than a “pervert.” The two even develop a kind of love, though it is never consummated sexually. When the two finally cross the ice, they first stay in a fishing village before going to the nearest town in order to find a radio with a signal powerful enough to reach Ai’s ship to summon his crewmembers to Gethen. The two travelers stay with an old friend of Estraven’s, but he betrays them by radioing the king, who sends guards to kill Estraven. Estraven tries to escape by crossing the border back to Orgoreyn, but he is killed by Karhidish guards. Ai is grief-stricken, but he nevertheless returns to the palace to meet his ship and convince the Karhidish king to join the Ekumen, which he does. The novel ends with Ai going to Estraven’s family and telling them of he and Estraven’s journey across the ice.