At the time this novel was published...1969 (our 1969), it caused quite a stir because it was considered to be a "radical feminist" piece of literature. LeGuin, always one to be on the leading edge of philosophical and speculative thought, presented a very different (deviant???) view of gender and gender relations...not to mention relations between different "cultures." Although portraying the beings on Gethen as human, she did so with a huge difference from our own "polarity" of males and females. The people of Gethen are neither males nor females...they are both. To use LeGuin's words..."Yet you cannot think of a Gethenian as "it." They are not neuters. They are potentials; during each sexual cycle they may develop in either direction for the duration of that cycle. No physiological habit is established and the mother of several children may be the father of several more." (1st page inside front cover) Yes, one being is both male and female and LeGuin gives the name kemmering to the transition from one sexual cycle to the other. This corresponds to our concept of androgyny and refers to our issue of bisexuality. LeGuin was one of the first (if not the first) authors to utilize these notions in a context of "normality."

When Genly Ai (a dark skinned male) arrives on Gethen (in the kingdom/nation of Karhide) he is confronted with not only social, political, and economic differences...but also fundamental gender differences, too. Although "invited" to Karhide by the current Prime Minister...a "man"t. "woman" named Estraven. The king. Argaven, is suspicious (as some people often are of the "stranger") and banishes both Ai and Estraven from Karhide. While Ai may travel to the other nations on Gethen, Estraven is a man without a country and lives under a death penalty if he were ever to return to Karhide.

Thus, the story is the record of Genly Ai's travels on Gethen and his developing relationship with an "other"...Estraven. The reader becomes surrounded by not only Ai's mission and Estraven's troubles...but also by mythical accounts on Gethen, anthropological surveys of Gethen, the intimate thoughts of Estraven, and the political battles of nations on a planet which could benefit greatly by becoming united and emerging into the unity of the "Known Worlds."

While LeGuin's feminist and humanist issues may seem tame to some by today's standards, they are, nevertheless, still striking in their implications for our own thoughts about the familiar and the strange. While on the one hand, our present day issues may seem almost trivial in contrast to the interplanetary scale of this story...at the same time, LeGuin's genius is that she also "lifts up" our issues to a level of importance and magnitude that situates them in a clear and critical light. Have we paid attention?