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Doomsday Battle
Escapism is the impulse that people have to escape Earth to try and survive rather than stay on Earth to face the Trisolarans. People who are escapists are also often defeatists, meaning that they want to escape the Earth because they believe it’s inevitable that the Trisolarans will destroy humanity. Escapism is ultimately outlawed because it drains resources from the effort to fight against the Trisolarans. People also believe it’s impossible to resolve moral questions raised by escapism about who should be given the opportunity to leave Earth and who will be condemned to stay, since there aren’t resources to support everyone leaving.
Escapism Quotes in The Dark Forest
The The Dark Forest quotes below are all either spoken by Escapism or refer to Escapism. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Pages 131-150 Quotes
“Dad, there’s going to be a heavy sentence for this—”
“Any other crime, and I’d be able to work it out for you, but that’s not how this is going to work. Ming, we’re both adults. We need to be responsible for our actions.” Shi Xiaoming bowed his head in despair and took a silent draw on his cigarette.
Shi Qiang said, “I’m half to blame. I never had any concern for you when you were growing up. I came home late every night, so tired I’d just have a drink and then go to bed. I never went to a parents’ meeting at school, and I never had a good talk with you about anything.… It’s the same thing again: We have to be responsible for our own actions.”
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Get the entire The Dark Forest LitChart as a printable PDF.
Escapism Term Timeline in The Dark Forest
The timeline below shows where the term Escapism appears in The Dark Forest. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Pages 43-61
...discussing the escapist movement, which is an alternative to the plan to fight the Trisolarans. Escapism entails fleeing Earth to avoid an encounter with the Trisolarans. There are three possible forms...
(full context)
...he doesn’t remember. Luo Ji turns on the TV, which is broadcasting UN debates about escapism. Luo tells the woman that he once almost became famous because he invented the discipline...
(full context)
...he did, and Yang Jinwen shows him a headline in the paper that says that escapism has been outlawed by the UN. Zhang Yuanchao asks what happened, and Yang Jinwen says...
(full context)
Pages 370-391
...space fleet tries to verify whether there are any people who advocate for defeatism or escapism in their midst. Zhang Beihai goes into a room where he can access control of...
(full context)
Pages 391-410
...desire to negotiate, but he remains unconvinced. He says he still believes in defeatism and escapism.
(full context)
