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
As soon as Ye learned of the true mission of Red Coast, she devoted herself entirely to the base. Because of what she had studied in college, she was put in charge of minimizing the solar outages that plagued the base’s monitoring operations. Though Ye made little progress on this front, she quickly stumbled on an unusual fact—every so often, the radio activity on the sun would pause and the surface of the sun would get completely calm. This strange fact caught Ye’s attention, but try as she might, she could not explain it.
In addition to emphasizing Ye’s youthful isolation and dedication to her work, this flashback shows just how skilled a scientist Ye really is. She is able to notice small details and, rather than ignoring them or rushing to explain them, she works to incorporate them into a larger theory.
Themes
Even though Ye was discouraged, she did not want to quit her research; she knew that if she did, she might lose access to some of the many foreign books she so enjoyed. Instead, she continued to spend time in the base library, going there late at night when no one else was around. One night, she stumbled on a journal article that referenced two moments of strong electromagnetic radiation on Jupiter. The dates seemed familiar to Ye, so she cross-referenced them with the Red Coast operations diary.
While the emphasis on the search for extraterrestrial life is itself a result of political divides, it also opens ideological doors for Ye—only through her official research can she gain access to knowledge and perspectives from outside communist China.
Themes
Sure enough, Ye realized that each time there was a flare on Jupiter, 16 minutes and 42 seconds later, there was a similar flare on the earth. After doing some quick calculations, Ye began to understand that the sun was acting as a mirror—and thus as an amplifier—for radio waves. In other words, a radio transmitter as strong as the one at Red Coast Base could make itself stronger by using the sun as a super-antenna. Humans could then send radio signals beyond the power capacity they currently had as a Type I civilization.
On Trisolaris, the sun(s) are usually a threatening thing, approaching to scorch or tear the planet. But on earth, the sun is life-giving—and for Ye, it proves to be key to cracking the difficult research problems she has been struggling with. This dual symbolism shows just how much each individual’s viewpoint changes how they approach the natural facts around them.
Themes
To test her idea, Ye had to go through a great deal of red tape, including getting scientific files from the US that would normally be banned and appeasing Commissar Lei, who feared that Ye’s work was veering too far from theory. Worst of all, Lei worried that pointing a “superpowerful radio beam at the red sun” would have unintended “political symbolism.” Still, Ye refused to give up on her mission.
Red is an immensely meaningful color in Chinese communism (hence the term Red Guard); pointing a radio beam at the red sun could therefore look like a veiled, symbolic critique of communism. The fact that even standard research must be analyzed for potential meaning in this way shows just how much politics shapes science.
Themes
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One day in the fall of 1971, Ye decided to try out her idea on her own. Nobody else in the room was paying any attention to her; either they were shutting down for the day or taking a break, so “no matter how historians and writers later tried to portray the scene, the reality at the time was completely prosaic.” With maximum power turned on, Ye transmitted a signal to the sun.
Just as Bai Mulin never imagined his actions would have world-altering consequences, Ye’s profound decision feels like a part of normal (“prosaic”) life. This detail suggests that history only makes sense in retrospect; in the moment, individuals rarely realize what effects their actions will have.
Themes
As soon as she sent the signal, Ye rushed to Yang’s office to ask him to monitor any return signals. Yang quickly realized what Ye had done and was amazed by her discovery—in their excitement, the two shared a rare moment of tenderness. Twenty minutes later, however, no signal had echoed back to them. Depressed by her failure, Ye grabbed some cold leftovers and sat on the edge of Radar Peak. Her eyes welled with tears. Little did Ye know that while she wept, the signal she had sent out was already crossing Jupiter’s orbit. Though she wouldn’t learn it for years, Ye had successfully sent a message into space.
As has often been the case, Ye is a scientist who can find moments of connection primarily through work—when she believes her work has failed, her bond with Yang evaporates as quickly as it began. But though Ye thinks she has failed, she has in fact succeeded in reaching the Trisolarans, changing the course of human destiny forever. Once again, therefore, individuals—even those who are trying to create change—are unaware of the impact they actually have.
Themes
