BP6- Yamilet Vasquez

Question 4

In Ted Chiang’s “Stories of Your Life and Others,” the theme of hope resonates throughout the narrative beginning with Colonel Weber’s decision to enlist Dr. Louise Banks and Ian Donnelly in helping with the mystery of the extraterrestrial spacecraft’s arrival on Earth. A moment of hope is when they recognize how Fermat’s principle plays a fundamental role in the heptapod’s communication through mathematics. I believe their perseverance and curiosity help them navigate the complexities of a language beyond human comprehension. The survival aspect comes not only in their intellect but also in their ability to see the threat of a global conflict. Their ability to decipher the language allows them to avoid catastrophe showing that they are resilient in the most hard moments.

Regarding the digients, the heptapods, while they may have departed earth there’s a suggestion that their story with humanity is far from over with Dr. Louise. As she can understand/be able to communicate with them. Her new ability to perceive time nonlinearly can lead to a deeper connection with the heptapods I feel. With her acceptance of the eventual separation from her husband and her alignment with the language, I feel she wants them to return. All of the flashbacks throughout the story weren’t from the past but the future. She knows that her life will be dedicated to this and knows how her life will play out. I think that more people will eventually be able to learn this language and Dr. Louise will help spread it as she was the first human to do so. 

In “I Have no mouth, and I must scream” by Harlan Ellison it can be challenging to see hope but I believe there is. AM kept 5 people alive and dragged them down there as a means of torturing them. These 5 people are Ted, Nimdok, Gorrister, Benny, and Ellen. These 5 show resilience from AM as they are tortured for amusement. An example of this could be when the four main characters minus Gorister stare up at the ceiling and see Gorristers lifeless body hanging. They then realize they are looking at a fake corpse that was made by Am as a means to just mess with them. They are survivors who have been enduring this for 109 years and are permanently stuck at the age that they were brought down there. Despite all of their efforts they can’t die of natural causes and are resilient/survivors because they still feel the pain of hunger/ dehydration and can’t do anything about it. It amuses AM that they have to walk around for months and even years on end without food. They eat disgusting food like worms and decomposing meat. This is just the calming part as AM attacks them fires, stabs them, and many more gruesome things. The moment of hope sadly comes when Gorrister screams so loud because of Benny eating his face since they were not able to access the food in the ice cave. This causes Gorrster to scream so loud and shrill that along the roof of the ice cave giant icicles begin to fall. It occurs to Ted that for the first in forever, he has a weapon. Ted uses this chance and stabs Benny, Gorster, and Ellen, finally giving them a chance to rest from torture. I believe what happened to Ted after the story is he was able to get revenge on AM. Although he was the one who hated everyone he was willing to sacrifice himself and end AM’s amusement from tormenting the others.