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A form of controlled hysterical strength that can be invoked by practitioners of Handdara. While it typically lasts for an hour at most, disciplined individuals can maintain dothe for hours or even a full day. After dothe strength is used, the body requires a rest period called thangen.
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Dothe Term Timeline in The Left Hand of Darkness
The timeline below shows where the term Dothe appears in The Left Hand of Darkness. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 5
...and music. One night, Ai watches two very old men dance for five hours, displaying dothe, or carefully controlled “hysterical strength,” a Handdara phenomenon Ai has heard of but never seen.
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Chapter 6
...the street, is found, and transported to a hospital some time later. Estraven had used dothe strength to row himself away from Tibe’s men, but had not sufficiently rested during the...
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Chapter 11
...a plastic factory and practices fasting, and in the afternoon he works on improving his dothe-strength. He wonders why he even bothers to write in his diary. He thinks maybe it...
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Chapter 14
Estraven is put on the midnight guard shift. Some time before dawn he activates his dothe-strength and seeks out Ai. He stuns him using his gun, and then begins to carry...
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...to the prison guards he has abused his luck and has killed the Envoy. Estraven’s dothe-strength has persisted for hours, and now he must rest. He feeds himself and Ai, cleans...
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...to break him out of prison, and is slightly suspicious. Estraven explains he used his dothe-strength, revealing that he is of the Handdara, a fact Ai had not known. Ai doesn’t...
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