I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending of Left Hand of Darkness. I kind of like how the end is left open to interpretation but at the same time I want to know what happened. The end kind of reminded me of a way that a lot of movies end, with the protagonist about to retell everything that has happened. Genly is about to answer sorve's guestion," Will you tell us how he died?-Will you tell us about the other worlds out among the stars- the other kinds of men the other lives?"p. 301. I think the ending is nice the way it ends with a reflection upon everything that has happened and Estraven. In class we also discussed in our group how weird it was that the last page doesn't have a page number. Was this done purposely? It seems like it was because the numbers are placed automatically they don't write in each one so they couldn't have just forgotten to do it. I do not think that Genly will stay on Gethen I think he will stay as long as the rest of the crew does but then he will return to his job and maybe go to a new planet. He obviously had a reason for becoming an Envoy in the first place because i know I would never want that job. Genly seems like the kind of person who doesn't really complain he just accepts things and does what other people want. It never seemed like he really got that upset or angry even when he was kidnapped and in the van. That's why I think he will go on with his job, it gives him something to do and a purpose in his life. If he just stayed on Gethen what would he do where would he go?

I actually really enjoyed chapter sixteen because of the character development and for the first time i felt like the story was going somewhere, literally and figuratively. I liked that there is now an apparent goalin the book. Genly and Estraven have somewhere, Karhide, that they are trying to get to unlike earlier in the book when I didn't really know what to make of things or what the point of things was. I'm still not really sure how this book is going to have a good ending, maybe it won't but we are getting close to the end and i wonder how the author will deal with this. I feel like I understood what was going on in the chapter a lot more because the plot was more simple and clear, i know that some people found this boring but i enjoyed it. i also felt like this was the first chapter where we actually got to know Estraven and Genly because the chapter wasn't about Karhide or Orgoreyn it was about them. I have also really changed my opinion of Estraven over the past few chapters. At the begining i didn't really like or trust him but now i can see that he has good intentions and really is looking out for Genly Ai.

Chapter 13 really changed my impression of Orgoreyn. I used to like Orgoreyn more than Karhide but now I have changed my mind because Orgoreyn seemed like a communist dictatorship where people have no rights and are not told what is going on in their society. When Genly Ai was taken I got the impression that he hadn't really done anything wrong their fear and suspicions of him drove them to treat him so badly. it seems really unfair that all of those people would just be arrested and sent to prison without any kind of trial or even being told what they had done wrong. even when they were all so close to death on the bus Mr. Ai said they acted really obediently. At least in Karhide all the people knew what was going on and that Mr. Ai was the envoy, where as in Orgoreyn none of the citizens are told anything. The only people who get to decide things are the thirty-three. It reminds me of communist Russia in the way it is governed and the citizens or Commensals are treated. I also found it really disturbing that no one helped the dying people other than Mr. Ai and when he asked everyone to share the water equally no one listened.
I would also like to point out that I really like that we made that encyclopedia on Wednesday because it is hard to keep all the people and places straight.

I have a question that refers to the whole book but particularly to chapter nine. I don't understand why all the characters have two names. Is one their last name and the other their first? For example in chapter nine Therem of Estre is the same person as Estraven. Is Estraven his first name, that's what I think. I also liked the discussion question in class that asked whether or not we thought Estraven was a traitor. I was confused by why they were referring to him as a traitor in the story when he only killed those other people in self defense. Why is he considered a traitor for uniting to clans?
Another question i have about the book is how is Mr. Ai able to communicate with the Karhidians and the people of Orgeryn? i understand that he has been in Karhide for two years and that he would have picked up the language but he has only been in Orgota for a few days and is already able to communicate with all the people and was when he first arrived. Maybe he some how managed to learn the languages before he went to winter. But how would he have done that because they supposedly knew nothing of these people isn't Mr. ai there to learn about them. i wonder if there languages are all very similar.

Honestly i am really confusedby this book. I'm not really sure what it is going to be about or what we should already be getting from it. I don't really like Mr. Ai he seems like he is sexist and and dislikes the fact that the Karhidians don't go to war. on pages 48 and 49 he says "Quarrels, murders, feuds, forays, vendetas, assassinations, tortures, and abominations, all these were in their repertory of human accomplishments; but they did not go to war. They lacked, it seemed, the capacity to mobilize. They behaved like animals, in that respect; or like women" I assume that he means it in a negative way that the Karhidians don't go to war and are therefore like animals or women. First of all what is wrong with not going to war? Why does he want them to be going to war? I think it is great that they can avoid war and keep peace on their planet. Maybe Mr. ai should be learning how they manage this instead of trying to convince them to be like his planet. Also, i don't like the way he says they are acting like women because they don't go to war, as if it is an insult. This shows that his character is some what sexist.