Previous
Orbit 5, descending
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Orbital, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Isolation and the Limits of Human Connection
Time, Perception, and Alienation
Memory and Grief
Human Influence and Environmental Responsibility
Nature’s Power and Indifference
Summary
Analysis
Signs on the space station designate separate toilets for Russian and non-Russian crew members due to geopolitical tensions, but in practice, these divisions are ignored. The crew shares everything, making the idea of national boundaries seem absurd in their isolated environment. As part of their cognitive assessments, the crew completes virtual-reality tasks that test their reaction times and ability to measure intervals of time. They count seconds, track blue squares, and respond to prompts, but the results reveal that space has affected their perception. Their sense of time is distorted, their reflexes are slower, and their internal clocks are unreliable.
The division of toilets by nationality reflects Earth’s geopolitical tensions, but in the confined space station, these boundaries lose their meaning. The crew ignores the distinctions because survival depends on cooperation, not nationalism. In orbit, the idea of separating resources by country becomes absurd, reinforcing how artificial these divisions are when people try to apply those divisions in space, far from Earth.
Themes
Outside the space station, the earth spins below, continents appearing and disappearing in moments. The sun rises and sets rapidly, warping the crew’s sense of time. As they complete each test, the automated voice reassures them with warm encouragement, but the results expose the reality: their bodies and minds are slipping from normal function. They watch as Europe, then Asia, then Australia slip beneath them, the landscape shifting too quickly to grasp. The day fades, the earth’s horizon softens, and the planet blurs as darkness consumes it.
The crew’s cognitive tests expose the gradual deterioration of their perception. The automated voice offers encouragement, but it cannot change the reality that their bodies and minds are adapting in ways they cannot control. Below them, Earth moves too fast to process, reinforcing the disconnection between their current reality and the world they left behind. As darkness overtakes the planet, the familiar dissolves, leaving only the unsettling awareness that they are slipping further from the reality they once knew.
Themes
