How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
And in the Center there is no time past and no time to come. In all time past it is. In all time to come it is. It has not been nor yet will it be. It is. It is all. (12.1)
Sneaky, Le Guin, very sneaky. Remember at the beginning of the novel how Ai mentions that the Gethenian calendar is always at Year One, counting forward and backward accordingly (1.3)? Well, this quote slyly points out just how much religion paints the way we view the world. Sometimes the smallest details have vast religious histories (see our own A.D. and B.C. timeline).
Quote #5
The life of every man is in the Center of Time, for all were seen in the Seeing of Meshe, and are in his Eye. We are the pupils of his Eye. Our doing is his Seeing: our being his Knowing. (12.5)
Hmm, there seems to be a lot of stress on the word "eye" when read aloud. Could there be a possible connection between the "Eye" here and the pronunciation of Ai's name? Is there any way that Ai can be seen as a type of Messiah-figure?
Quote #6
"There used to be an old Sanovy crazy-priest would come by my Hearth when I was little and tell us children all about that, where the liars go when they die, and where the suicides go, and where the thieves go—that's where we're going, me and you, eh, one of those places?" (13.51)
Here, Asra notes how religion is sometimes used to explain the unexplainable. In this case, the use of all those planets seen in the night sky.