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 she first started at Red Coast, Ye was not allowed to do anything but a few technical tasks. Though her father had been interested only in theoretical physics, Ye had learned computer science and electrical engineering, so she was able to do some basic maintenance in the Transmission Department. Still, she felt lonely and confused about her placement: she was the only person not in military uniform, and her political past made people suspicious of her.
Scientific work is often considered objective, but Ye’s experience at Red Coast Base shows at every level how science can be politicized. Even though the Chinese government needs experts, Ye’s expertise—and her connection to her brilliant father—automatically forces her to do work beneath what she is capable of.
Themes
Many of Ye’s colleagues in Transmission were actually very skilled computer scientists, but they were so bored by the work that they played dumb; that way, they could be transferred to another department. Over time, then, more people left and Ye rose to prominence. Even better, security stopped supervising her work as closely. Still, there were many systems and areas on the base that Ye was not allowed to access.
Ye is patient and flexible, and this work ethic makes her an increasingly trusted employee. But Ye’s willingness to devote herself to even the most frustrating tasks can also be read as another symptom of her trauma: she is so desperate to shut herself off from humanity that she will do anything to get some space.
Themes
During this time, Yang Weining—who was politically suspect because of his past in academia—often took out his frustration on Ye. Commissar Lei, on the other hand, started to be kinder to Ye. One day, he finally explained the purpose of Red Coast Base. The antenna created a kind of large-scale microwave, but rather than heating up frozen foods, its radiation was pointed at enemy space vessels. In this way, the Chinese could take down the American and Soviet satellites. Just as Lei finished explaining this to Ye, Yang Weining approached and accused Lei of sharing information he was not supposed to. Though technically Lei was of higher rank, Ye still worried that he could get in trouble.
Here, the connection between scientific discovery and political division becomes even clearer. Ye is working in the time of the Cold War, when each major power in the world was trying to invent new and ever-more-deadly technologies; China lagged behind the U.S. and USSR, and so was always trying to catch up. Rather than trying to communicate with each other, then—as an antenna would normally suggest—these various nations are trying to destroy each other.
Themes
The next day, Ye was transferred from the Transmission Department to the Monitoring Department. Unlike the simple machines in Transmission, Monitoring was quite technologically advanced. Mostly, it was designed around a giant radio receiver that could pick up very faint or distant signals. Commissar Lei explained to Ye that the purpose of the Monitoring Department was to be “the eyes of Red Coast”—to pay close attention to any communication in space between enemy vessels. Again, Yang Weining threatened to report Lei for sharing this information with Ye.
As Ye rises in the ranks, she encounters an increasingly blurry line at Red Coast Base between what is communication and what is conflict—a confusion that reflects the constant uncertainty of the Cold War itself. It is also worthwhile to note the tension between Yang and Lei, each of whom seems to have a very different idea of what Ye should be told—and that in turn implies that Ye is not getting anything close to the full story.
Themes
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Nevertheless, Lei continued to talk to Ye about what was happening at the base. He told her that she had been selected because she had successfully predicted some solar activity in college, and often, Red Coast’s information was being interrupted or confused by solar flares. Lei also confessed that he was hoping his own trust in Ye would gradually be shared by other officers of the base, which would allow her to advance—in other words, that one day she would become “Comrade Ye.” Ye found herself surprisingly moved by this trust.
For the first time, Ye sees a path towards trust and human connection—and better still, that path is through the science she loves so much. Interestingly, Ye works on the sun’s movement and solar flares, suggesting that there is some link between what she does in the 1960s and the Three Body game Wang Miao is playing in the early 2000s.
Themes
Ye struggled more in the Monitoring Department than she had in Transmission, in part because the machines were much more advanced. More than that, though, the longer Ye worked in Monitoring, the more confused she became about Red Coast’s activities. For example, though they intercepted transmission from a threatening American satellite, Yang Weining showed no interest; instead, he redirected Ye and her colleagues to focus their signal monitoring elsewhere. Another time, Ye saw that the frequencies Red Coast was emitting were much lower than the frequencies necessary to effectively heat and destroy enemy satellites.
The stated goal of Ye’s project is completely at odds with what she is actually doing. This lack of interest in the enemy satellites, combined with the strange squabbling between Yang Weining and Lei, makes it more and more clear that Red Coast Base is up to something much more mysterious than what Ye was initially told.
Themes
Out of the blue, Ye was summoned to the main office at Red Coast Base. When she saw that a group of officers was waiting for her, she was immediately reminded of her horrible experience in the Khingan Mountains, when she had been accused of sedition for writing Bai’s letter. Now, though, the officers were not angry. Instead, Commissar Lei explained that Yang Weining had long been petitioning to reveal the truth behind Red Coast Base to Ye—finally, they were going to drop the cover story.
In addition to confirming Ye’s suspicions that she is involved in something she does not actually understand, this passage reveals just how constantly Ye must confront her earlier trauma. At every moment, she is reminded of terrifying episodes in her past, even when such a comparison is unnecessary.
Themes
Before Ye could come to terms with the fact that she had been lied to, all the other officers exited, leaving Ye and Yang Weining alone together. Yang Weining offered Ye one final chance to refuse the knowledge about what was really happening at Red Coast, but Ye was determined to hear the truth.
For someone who has spent so much of her life being betrayed, it is hard to overestimate the impact of yet one more breach in trust; Ye’s decision, though immediate, is therefore far from calm or rational. But if this decision is a trauma response, it is also evidence of Ye’s scientific mind: like her father Ye Zhetai, she will seek the truth at any cost.
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