Patriotism and the novel The Left Hand of Darkness - Essay Example

?[Your full July 22, Patriotism and the novel "The Left Hand of Darkness" Le Guin has not only been able to convey to the reader the true meaning of humanity and truth but has also at some points in the novel discussed what true patriotism should mean. Humanity defines how humans should be humane in all senses and truth defines the boundaries that help them remain humane- a concept that the reader grasps throughout the novel. Another theme that Le Guin has made his character, Estraven, argue about is patriotism. Pages 8 and 212 help the reader reconsider the definition of true patriotism and convey to him how patriotism should be different from just love and how a country demands much more than what we as citizens give to it. The role of science fiction is to discuss moral and ethical issues with the help of new technology so that the topic becomes interesting enough for the reader. Le Guin has created a lucid plot in which an alien talks to a man from Earth and makes him realize the errors in his basic concepts. This paper intends to discuss the concept of patriotism as has been discussed on pages 8 and 212 of the novel ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’. When Estraven talks about patriotism, he tells Ai that by patriotism he does not mean love for one’s country but fear. “…when I say patriotism, I mean fear. The fear of the other. And its expressions are political, not poetical: hate, rivalry, aggression. It grows in us, that fear”, says Estraven (Le Guin 18). First he asks Ai his expression of the concept to which the latter replies that he only knows patriotism in the form of love for the country and its people. Estraven contradicts and says that patriotism is not love; instead, it is defined by how much fear we have of other countries. Although, Estraven is not shown explaining to Ai what he means by fear; however we can have the idea in what context he is talking when he says that this fear of other countries is interpreted in political context and not poetical. Love is poetical and it has little to do with actual realities. Fear is a more practical expression and it grows as a result of political affiliations that one country has with others- affiliations that cause hate, rivalry and aggression. It seems as if on the land of Gethen, patriotism is understood in terms of fear which rulers have of other rulers, and people have of their ruler. “It’s because of fear that I refuse to urge your cause with the king now” (Le Guin 18), illustrates that Gethenians fear their rulers and understand it as patriotism and faithfulness to the country and its rulers. I do not agree with Estraven in his definition of patriotism. For me, it is not a characteristic of a good ruler to create fear and terror among its people. Nothing can be attained through creating fright. Estraven is fearful that the king will not trust him now and will regard him as unpatriotic because he has been helping Ai in negotiating with the king about making an alliance with countries of the Earth. Estraven feels that the king is never going to understand that his objective behind helping Ai is the development of the land of Gethen itself. This makes him feel unpatriotic himself. So, we see that on the land of Gethen, the concept of patriotism revolves around fear; while, for Ai, patriotism means love of one’s country that has nothing to do with fear. Another perspective that defines this patriotic fear of Gethenians can be understood in terms of relation between language and culture. They have a totally different concept of patriotism whose severity in implementation is reflected by their language. The idea of shifgrethor defines a pride and prejudice relationship between the king and the people. Also, this pride extends to the people of Gethen in that they want to keep this pride strictly even if they have to create fear for those who want to make an intrusion in their land, its privacy and freedom. This idea is present throughout their culture and its strictness is portrayed by the language the Gethenians, like Estraven, are shown as speaking. To maintain this fear, Estraven is penalized and expelled for disloyalty and betrayal to the land. Hence, Gethenians have a strong concept of patriotism that is linked with fear sternly. Estraven talks about the impossibility of linking the emotions of love or hate for a country (Le Guin 212). When Ai asks him if he hates Orgoreyn, he replies that he cannot understand how one can love or hate a country. “How does one hate a country, or love one?”, he says (Le Guin 212). Again, we come to know that there is a clash between the concept of people of Earth and those of Gethen. We associate our feelings of love for our country but that love is only restricted between the boundaries of our country only. Beyond those boundaries, there is no meaning of love. Hate resides on the other side of those boundaries. For Gethenians, as we come to know through Estraven, patriotism does not only mean loving whatever is within the boundaries of the land; instead, it has some other meaning. It is not understandable for Estraven how can one love a marked land assigned a name, and hate everything which lies out of that marked boundary. Here, I agree with Estraven and consider his viewpoint as a very precious aspect of ethical concerns with the land. I believe that we should not only respect our land but also other lands and nations. This is the only way we can develop healthy relationships among nations that pays off in terms of progress. I would sum up this analysis of patriotism by stating that Le Guin has tried to convey to us what she thinks patriotism should mean, not what patriotism is. It is her perspective that Estraven is talking about. Le Guin, through Estraven, tells us that patriotism is not only loving our land but it is about fearing the ruler, fearing the intrusion in the land, and fearing the harsh penalties that he may face if he is caught in treason. Well, this is not acceptable to me. Of course, people should respect the authorities and should never indulge in treachery, but rulers should promote love and harmony instead of creating terror. This terror spreads from people to other nations and this way, hatred spreads giving rise to more fear. What can be attained through love cannot be attained through creating fear. Till this point, Le Guin portrays patriotism as a destructive phenomenon but when we go to page 212, we come across a totally different perspective. There, Le Guin describes that patriotism is not only about loving a land whose boundaries have been marked and named. Instead, the concept should spread to the whole land of God. It is not fair that we love something that lies within the boundaries of our land and hate whatever is beyond them, for whatever is beyond them is again loved by some other people with some other boundaries. This restriction of boundaries spreads hatred and rivalry if people start thinking of patriotism in terms of love. This perspective of Le Guin’s, which talks about spreading love beyond boundaries, depicts patriotism as a very beneficial phenomenon which if all of us adopt, then this world will become a better and a happier place to live in. Works Cited Le Guin, Ursula. The Left Hand of Darkness. USA: Ace Books, 2003. Read More