I would like to start out by saying, that I am extremely upset with how they killed off Estraven! He was by far my favorite character in this book and they just killed him. Needless to say how upset I am by this. It made me even more upset when Argaven didn’t right away take back Estraven’s exile when Genly asked him. I mean, why would it really matter to him considering Estraven was murdered.
Another thing that I didn’t like was, how it was so obvious that Thessicher was going to betray Estraven. When Genly was describing how he was looking Estraven and then he offered automatically to have him stay with him, that was the sign that he was going to inform Tibe. When Tibe was after him, I did not predict him killing him, only capturing him. I think that would have made a better ending.
About the ending, how disappointing was that? I mean you couldn’t have left us with a little substance or something instead of just ending it. Overall I would have to say I did not enjoy this book. I didn’t really get into it until Genly was arrested but then the whole escape scenes got a little old and boring. I really did not get the book and wanted a little bit more of an actually ending but I guess the book did make some reference to real life and how we should treat each other equally. I think the moral of this story was to first point out how we treat each and label things and second was it is possible to be friends with others who are completely different then you just like how Genly and Estraven became friends in the end.
I would also like to say I was very upset they killed off Estraven! All that for him to get killed! That whole journey of cruel conditions! It made me upset as well. I do think it was a power struggle the fact that Argaven would not takeback Estraven's exile He probably just likes the fact that he doesnt have to. What a jerk! Damn THessicher! Thats all I have to say about that! I did think that the ending was very disapointing! It literally just ends! Why not give us a little more than that? I know that some people liked the fact that they got to think up the restof the story on their own, but after reading the whole book I wanted a little more to it. I thought the highlight of the book was when Genly got arrested and the journey to Karhide. I do think this book references that we should be kind and helpful to whoever because we are all different but can be helpful to each other if we work together... for the most part!
ReplyDeleteArrrgh! How dare Ursula Le Guin kill off Estraven! He was turning into such an interesting character too. I can’t say I favor his method of dying either. Suicide is such a big thing on Winter and he went and did it anyways. Sure, it was to help Genly with his mission as the Ekuman Envoy but still….. What a moron. Still when it comes to Argaven (you have no idea how badly I want to type “Aragorn” instead of Argaven), I can understand why he never revoked the sentence. Technically, Estraven was a traitor. At the very least, he betrayed his insane king’s trust in him. For Argaven that is probably enough.
ReplyDeleteNo matter how you look at it too, Estraven did kill himself. Like a said, that’s huge to his people. He skied down the mountain, knowing what would happen to him. True that it’s never officially confirmed, but being branded a traitor is better than being wiped out of history and the minds of the people. From what I get, someone who commits suicide is never mentioned again. As far as I can tell, rather than give Estraven that fate, Argaven kept him “alive” in a sense by not taking away his title as a traitor. At least that way he still exists, even if not in the physical sense.
To play devil's advocate, maybe Le Guin killed him off to make Genly acknowledge how deep his love for Estraven is.
ReplyDelete