“The man happened to be next to me on the right, and I took his head on my knees to give him relief in breathing: so he died. We were all naked, but thereafter I wore his blood for clothing, on my legs and thighs and hands: a  dry, stiff, brown garment with no warmth in it.” p. 168

today, i recall having an interesting discussion about this quote in class. there was a classmate who shared his thoughts about how he thought genly ai killed this man to put him out or his misery, a ‘mercy killing’. he also said that genly ‘wore his blood for clothing’, symbolizing his guilt for killing him. i dont think he is wearing the dead man’s blood as clothes, literally, but i do think he is wearing it figuratively. as the classmate said, he is guilty of killing him, and the blood is the burden he has to put on his shoulders, as if it were clothes. i don’t understand why he would feel so guilty though, because he was doing it out of compassion, and understanding. he did not want to see this man suffer any more than he already has, being beaten, and bleeding to death. he couldn’t even breathe! o.O he killed the man for his own good, so he won’t be in pain and basically, die a slow death. i don’t think genly should feel the need to carry this ‘burden’ on his shoulders.

“He stopped. I was about to demand that he be more specific, but he said, “Goodbye, Mr. Ai,” turned, and left. I stood benumbed. The man was like an electric shock – nothing to hold on to and you don’t know what hit you.”  –p.132

in this chapter, this quote especially stood out to me. i like this quote because Le Guin uses a metaphor to describe what Genly’s thoughts and feelings. the fact that Ashe left so abruptly without even giving Genly a chance to speak, surprises him. Ashe immediately ends their conversation with a ‘goodbye’ and leaves Genly feeling numb, just as if he was being electricuted. he feels as if he is paralyzed, and can’t say anything. he is so shocked, in fact, that he did not even know what ‘hit him’.

“They were all connected, all of them, as if they were the suspension-points of a spiderweb. I felt, whether I wished or not, the connection, the communication that ran, wordless, inarticulate, through Faxe, and which Faxe was trying to pattern and control, for he was the center, the Weaver. The dim light fragmented and died away creeping up the eastern wall. The web of force, of tension, of silence, grew.” p. 65

i liked how Le Guin described the “session” using a metaphor. she described it as a spiderweb, that is connected at many points. since every web is made differently, each “session” is unique.  she also uses a metaphor to describe Faxe. she calls him a “Weaver” because he is the center of the “web” or secession, and is in control of it. the “Weaver” is the spider, the one who creates that connection between the “suspension-points” or people ,of the web. “The dim light fragmented and died away creeping up the eastern wall”- this particular quote gives me a very vived image that i can imagine- a dimly lit, uninviting room, where a very strongly built spiderweb lays, in the eastern corner of the room. cant you see it?  as the concentration of the “spider” grows, so the silence,  connection and force between the people grow.

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