Throughout the novel, pendulums symbolize the idea that history is more circular than linear, and that individuals are powerless to alter that circular narrative. Initially, the residents of Trisolaris constructed a field of giant pendulums with the hope that such a monument could appease an angry sun god. But this project failed, as did all other Trisolaran attempts to save their homeland from destruction. What had begun with the promise of a new beginning for Trisolaris thus became to look like a “tombstone” for the dying planet. Just as a pendulum swings back and forth, endlessly repeating the same movement, the Trisolarans’ “history had made a long circuit and returned to its starting place.” In emphasizing the circular nature of history, The Three Body Problem then also complicates the idea of progress. Though the giant pendulums initially seemed to be a technological advancement, by the time Wang Miao actually encounters the monument, the Trisolaran solar system has become so chaotic that the pendulums now swing erratically, in every direction and without rhythm. So, in addition to noting the circularity of history, Wang also reflects that though the pendulum was built because of a “yearning for order,” it has now come to symbolize “the surrender to chaos.”
Pendulums Symbol Timeline in The Three-Body Problem
