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Chapter 19
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Three-Body Problem, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Technology, Progress, and Destruction
Scientific Discovery and Political Division
Trauma and Cyclical Harm
Theory vs. Lived Experience
History and Legacy
Summary
Analysis
When Wang logs on again, he sees a completely bare landscape—there is no palace, only a series of stones. Quickly, though, Wang realizes that the stones are actually human heads; all of the Trisolarans on the planet have gathered here, and they are all looking at the sky. Wang follows their gaze. At first, he thinks he sees stars, but he quickly realizes he is looking at the Trisolaran Interstellar Fleet.
Symbolically, this section completely blurs the lines between what is alive and what is inanimate. What looks like stones are actually people; what seem to be stars are actually ships. Wang’s earlier struggle to distinguish what is real is now that much more difficult.
Themes
A man next to Wang explains that the fleet is headed towards the closest star, four light-years away. The ships accelerate, and the people around Wang fall quiet; only their descendants will ever know whether the fleet has succeeded. Another pop-up message appears: “Three Body is over. When you have returned to the real world, if you remain true to the promise you’ve made, please attend the meet-up of the Earth-Trisolaris Organization.” The message tells Wang that a follow-up address will be in his email.
Though many of the characters have philosophized about history and progress, here, those ideas take on new meaning—the Trisolarans of today must contort themselves for the survival of generations not yet born. History, in other words, is not a given; it is made by people protecting their descendants (like on Trisolaris) or making big decisions (like the one Wang is about to make on earth).
Themes
