The period after an expression of dothe strength in which the practitioner must rest and recover. The longer dothe was in use, the longer thangen takes.
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Thangen Term Timeline in The Left Hand of Darkness
The timeline below shows where the term Thangen appears in The Left Hand of Darkness. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 6
...strength to row himself away from Tibe’s men, but had not sufficiently rested during the thangen phase, which led to his collapse and hospitalization. The doctor chastises him for putting himself...
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Chapter 14
...must rest. He feeds himself and Ai, cleans Ai’s bedsores, and then is overtaken by thangen. He and Ai sleep for days.
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For a day and a half, Estraven is in catatonic thangen-sleep, and for some time after that he is in a milder recovery period. In this...
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