Helva's Post and The Borg

When thinking about Helva couldn't we classify her as a cyborg.  I mean i was thinkign about it and she is human but she is encased in her shell which allows her to controol a ship as if it were her own limb.  Basically in my book that is pretty much the definition of cyborg.  Cyborgs in star trek had the eye thingy drilled into them and cooperated as one more like a drone state, althought i would not classify helva to be a drone i would however say that she is most definitely part machine because her sense of touch and human contact is mostly gone, also she makes her movement through machine making her at least poartially a cyborg.  Granted she is no trying to colonize anything but i feel that the similarities between her and the borg in star trek are more than their weaknesses.  Both she and the borg queen are highly intelligent and they are both using machines to gain/use the control they seek are they not?  The main difference of course is that as far as we know, because we havent read other books helva is not trying to colonize and tarnsform the world as the borg queen is.  just some food for thought.

Back to Diamond Age

I know we passed diamond age a few weeks ago but i really wanted to write about this but just never found the time.  Did anyone else really miss Bud after he pretty much combusted.  I sure did, not that the novel wasn't interesting without him but i just loved seeing what he was going to do next, his thoughts never seemed to string themselves together in a coherent way.  It was like watching a train wreck but you couldn't take your eyes off it.  he was just such a low life and he always thought his ideas were brilliant, even when that guy warned him not to attack he pretty much told him to shut up he’s going to do whatever he wants, ultimately that was his downfall but there were certain points in the book i found myself wondering had he survived how would Bud fit into this? HE surely would’ve done something stupid, or maybe it would’ve been so stupid and daring that it paid off and he could’ve saved the day somehow.  More likely though he would just end up dead later but i found him an interesting character and a potential accidental hero.  Perhaps a prequel? Here's to hoping i thoroughly enjoyed his ridiculousness though it definitely wa sa recipe for disaster.

Helva as a ship

so when reading about helva as a ship i was very surprised that she didn't take the envelope and become a functional being, although who is to say that she wasn't already seeing as how she is functional as a ship.  I for one can't imagibne what that must've been like for her but i couldn't help but wonder if she did take the envelope what would happen to her debt, also would she have a new debt to the corveikey?  we already know she would have had to stay so that is kind of a debt.  I figured since she already traded into one machione, why not another, but she shows being content by not doing this.  Perhaps a driving reason was her responsibility to the ships passenger, perhaps she got a feeling of self fulfillment out of  providing a service, of being the one who is smart enough to command this ship and being needed.  I also think it could've been done out of a motherly nature to try and protect and return the passenegrs who had chosen not to stay.  On a side note in terms of the envelope i imagined something like what the little alien guy was inside of in men in black.

Motherly instincts

the last two things we have dealth with, aliens and graceling both have women as the main characters and both are dealing with their maternal instincts.  Ripley throughout the film is taking care of newt, from the moment she finds her she reaches out and si caring, makes sure she gets clean wipes the dirt off her face and makes it her duty to protect her from harm.  She also finds a way when all hope is lost in the medical center to alert somneone so that newt can be saved from the alien sapling.  Actually now thinking back on it one the first scenes in the film deals with ripley asking birk what happened to her daughter who we later find ouyt is dead.  I feel there is definitely some transference there where ripley tries to save newt and mother her to make up for the daughter whose life she missed, just like the dallas cowboys drafted dez bryant in a tranferent attempt to make up for promising to take randy moss another highly skilled but trooubled player that they missed out on.  i do beleive ripley has a genuine affection for newt but i also feel that transference played a large role in why she went back in the end of the film to svaer newt, i beleive she felt that she had alreayd lost one little girl and was determined to not lose another.  As for Katsa she takes on a maternal role in fighting the mountain lion to help bitterblue and leanrs of a maternal instinct she did not know sher had in her.

Katsa as a tool

Katsa for the most part of her life has been used as a tool as i am sure we can all agree but the effect this has on her is profound.  Not all, but most of the men in her life have attempted to either use her as a tool, hide things from her or lie to her.  This often affects her thinking and i believe this is why she will ultimately have a hard time trusting.  When she decides to trust Po she then stumbles across his true grace.  Someone she thought she knew and trusted flat out lied to her and broke her trust.  Ranada is constantly using her as a tool to perpetuate his own power making her an instrument of fear.  Oll is more sympathetic and a father figure but he still insists upon her doing randa's work.  so that leaves us with raffin and giddon.  raffin has always been there for her and does not impose any will upon her so he is a solid male figure to have in her life.  giddon as well i believe is solid he is always looking out for her, even though she doesn't need it and he does his best to make her feel normal at his castle, which she finally just realized, though he does try to get her to impose randa's will as well, stilll i believe he and oll to be good people for her to be around.  When you consider how her uncle treats her and how po has lied to her and those close to her still try to get her to do things that go against what she wants is it any wonder she does not want to get married?

Buffy and Ripley

Buffy and Ripley have alot of shared characteristics, for instance they both have male handlers who seem to think they know what is best the the two women, although buffy's handler/manager/teacher seems to have her best interests in mind is at least trying to help, ripley's does not inspire trust from the get go.  Paul resier or birk from the instant we meet him is all about bottom lines and dollar signs, he seems less than interested in explainign about her daughter and more interested in getting her to work.  He even tries to go so far as to sabotage her to try and bring back a live alien and find a way to exploit that for profit.  Buffy's handler however tries to at least endear himslef to her and offers to eat ice cream weith her after her and angel break up, while birk offers money as a way to let ripley bring the alien back.  The interesting part is even though both women are capable of taking care of themselves and often times others, there is still a male force trying to direct them.  While birk is clearly a bad guy out for material wealth and social standing giles is more of a father figure although i have questioned whether or not his whole father figure act is just a way of trying to relate to buffy so that he can more easily control her.  Bottom line both women are empowered and both male figures are trying to grasp at that and dictate their will to them. 

Ying Yang Theory

The Ying and Yang that Genly brings up can be traced to many aspects of the novel.  It could be applied to the end of the story when it is revealed that Arek and Estraven have a child and the child can be considered a piece of the two melted into one, just as the ying yang symbolizes.  I also thought of the ying and the yang when estraven and genly decided to share mind speech.   Mind speech is a great sign of bonding as it involves letting a person into the mind, a place where all a beings secret’s are kept and a place where there Is nowhere to hide.  With those two being able to flow in an out of each other’s minds, it could be thought of as yet another parallel of the ying and yang where the two are now bound together through allowing the other entrance into themselves. 

                The Ying and the Yang also could be seen as connecting Genly to Karhide.  Genly at the end of the novel feels as though he is a native to Karhide , previously this had seemed unimaginable to him.  Through the course of his journey in which he encounters natives, customs and kindness, and through his visit to orgota he comes to see what Karhide is and what it has to offer.  He now carries karhide with him and has left a piece of himself there.

                The Ying and Yang most show itself in the dual genders of the gethenians.  Gethenians contain both male and female capabilities without having a set gender which ultimately showsthe idea of a little of each inside of a whole that the ying and yang represent.