The Fiction of Ideas

For today's class, I read The Left Hand of Darkness by ursula K. Le Guin. The story is packed with information that are so formative of a unique world, its hard not to get enthralled by it.
We were prompted to think of ideas as fiction while addressing the pieces this week, which rooted itself nicely in this novel. There is so much happening in this story that it begins to feel pseudo-real and mirror a lot of the ideas and fears we have today.
The book starts with Genly Ai, the protagonist, making a trip to try and convince Gethen, a kingdom in this world, to join a group of humans called the Ekumen. The ideas portrayed in this novel range anywhere from political to religious to simply the ethereal. It is in the ability to make these obscure creations connect that this idea is wholly fictionalized in a story. I think that the root of ideas as grandeur as the ones in this book need to stem from the same place, and grow in uncertain directions.
The huge ending in this book as well is something to be considered for today. We live in a world that tries to separate cultures and people, and we are headed for a dead end. Just like the ending of this book, it took catastrophe to bring people together. If anything, we can learn something from this book about working together as a human race.