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
For eight years, Ye continued to live and work at Red Coast Base in peace. With time on her hands, Ye was at last able to reflect on the horrors she had endured: “nightmarish memories, like embers coming back to life, burned more and more fiercely, searing her heart.” Ye had hated humanity ever since she read Silent Spring, but now she read history books and philosophy books that confirmed her feelings. The news, which was filled with updates on the Cold War-era nuclear standoff, was even more horrific. And closer to home, the forests just below Radar Peak were still being cut down and burned, tangible proof of humanity’s evil.
Perhaps more than anywhere else in the novel, this passage shows just how much Ye Wenjie’s childhood trauma continues to trouble her—rather than subsiding, it grows “more and more” intense. This trauma then shapes the way she views everything else in her life; whether it is the news or the deforestation happening in front of her, Ye processes all stimuli through the “nightmarish memory” of her father’s death.
Themes
Yang fell in love with Ye and proposed marriage to her, even though it cost him some of his political status. Ye accepted mostly because she felt grateful to Yang for bringing her to Radar Peak. Soon after the wedding, Ye fell into a depression, struggling to find her sense of purpose. Late at night, she would sit alone in the monitoring room, seeing wave after wave of noise from the universe go by, unchanging. To Ye, “this was the loneliest time.”
Worse still, these horrific memories—and the distrust they have wrought—prevent Ye from making a meaningful connection with any other human. Rather than seeking companionship in her marriage, Yang’s love only enhances Ye’s feelings of loneliness; instead, she continues to look to science and technology for comfort.
Themes
One night, however, Ye saw a slight difference in the wave’s shape, perceivable only by someone with her level of expertise. The computer system told her that the signal was recognizable and decipherable, much more than any other signal ever had been. She turned on the deciphering system, and within moments, she had access to a file with a message from another world.
At the height of the Cold War, when Ye is working, humans have almost ceased to be able to communicate with each other; the Soviets, the Americans, and the Chinese are able to get through to each other only through the threat of violence. But now, Ye finds herself able to communicate with actual extraterrestrials—perhaps the ultimate demonstration of how much humans can alienate each other.
Themes
The message read: “Do not answer!! Do not answer!!!” As Ye read on, she discovered that the message had been written by a pacifist in another world. The message’s author explained that if nobody replied to his message, creatures on his planet would never be able to find the source of the original signal. If someone did reply, however, their “world would be conquered!!”
The fate of all people on earth is at stake in these messages (not to mention the fate of the Trisolarans). And yet, this universe-changing conversation plays out between two individuals, each with their own past experiences and priorities. The book therefore forces readers to wonder: how would this conversation be different if the person on the other end were not a pacifist? Or if Ye had had a more peaceful childhood?
Themes
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Ye’s mind raced with the realization that there was other intelligent life in the universe—and moreover, that such life was nearby, only four light-years away. More messages came in, and Ye learned of the existence of Trisolaris and of the civilization that had been reborn over and over again. When she had opened all the messages, Ye downloaded them and put them in a separate, secret file. Then she typed a quick message into the Red Coast transmitter.
Though Ye’s loneliness could not be placated by the man next to her in bed, the knowledge of other intelligence—especially one scientifically advanced enough to communicate back—instantly comforts her. The fact that Ye then keeps this message secret from all other humans further cements just where her loyalties lie.
Themes
Through the chilly morning air, Ye walked across the base to get to the transmission main control room. As the sun rose, Ye pointed the giant antenna towards it, ignoring the sleepy glances from the two men on duty. Knowing that “the entire fate of humanity was now tied to [her] slender fingers,” Ye pressed the transmit button. Her message invited the Trisolarans to earth, explaining that humanity was no longer capable of solving its own problems.
In this crucial moment, Ye makes good on her resolution from the beginning of the novel: she invites a (potentially destructive) outside force to earth in the hopes of reforming humanity. In addition to affirming how culpable humans are in their own downfall, the language around Ye’s “slender fingers” juxtaposes the seeming powerlessness of any given individual with the immense impact that one such person can have.
Themes
When Ye awoke several hours later in the base hospital, she realized she had fainted. Yang was sitting next to her, his face filled with concern. As Ye collected herself, taking in the “newly risen sun,” a doctor informed her that she was pregnant.
The sun has allowed Ye to communicate with potentially life-destroying aliens, and the sun is a terrifying force on Trisolaris. But now, the “risen sun”—like Ye’s sudden pregnancy—symbolizes new life, thereby juxtaposing humanity’s ability to create with its tendency to destroy.
Themes
