Copy of Discussion Questions - The Three Body Problem Chapters 26-30
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Song 1
Discussion Questions -
The Three Body Problem
Chapters 26-30
1. What changes in the education system and in the security rating of Red Coast have changed in Chap. 26? What is
the significance of these changes to Wenjie's circumstances?
The education system has now opened the National College Entrance Exam back up for everyone to take, even those
from The Five Black Categories and the security has gone down at the Red Coast Base. This gives Ye Wenjie the
opportunity to interact with the local children and teach them more knowledge about science to prepare them for the
exam, allowing her to form bonds with the locals and gain plenty of respect from the adults as well as the children
(291).
2. What visions does Wenjie see during her illness after giving birth? How are these visions significant to the
narrative?
Wenjie sees images of the three suns as they become flying stars in the sky. These visions fit well with Wenjie's
connections with Trisolaris and her expectations of the Trisolarans’ arrival. These visions signify that in a time of
great pain and struggle, Ye Wenjie seeks an escape in which she imagines the three-body problem that symbolizes
the civilization that will save humanity. Alternatively, it could be that this image simply relates to Wenjie the most in
a time of chaos that she is experiencing (292).
3. What experiences does Wenjie have while living with the villagers? How do these experiences change Wenjie?
[296]
Wenjie feels at peace with the villagers and she garners much respect from them due to her previous experience with
teaching the local children. Wenjie gained a more vivid experience of peaceful life and she begins to enjoy these
experiences (294). She experiences appreciation from the villagers and feels finally welcomed in a place, leading her
to experience some form of compassion as “something finally thawed in Ye Wenjie’s heart” (296).
4. What is the significance of Feng's question--"why do you think the stars in the sky don't fall down?" (295)--and of
Wenjie's answer?
Wenjie’s answer is more poetic than scientific perhaps due to the fact that this answer is more simplistic to explain
and offers a satisfying conclusion while a more scientific explanation would perhaps raise more questions, breaking
the idyllic imagery of the moment. This also shows the Wenjie’s mindset has strayed away from the consistently
scientific mindset she adopted at the Red Coast Base and she sees the simplicities of life in the village (295).
5. What changes does Wenjie find have taken place outside of Red Coast when she leaves? How does she come to
feel about her time at Red Coast?
Ye Wenjie observes that technological innovation were now brought to the forefront of the focus of industry and
manufacturing. No longer were these ideas considered dangerous in society, but welcomed as a means of
development (297). Over time, Ye Wenjie had come to prefer the quiet life in the Red Coast base and actually
wanted to stay there; however, upon consideration of Yang Dong’s education, Ye Wenjie decided to leave the base.
6. What attempts to resolve things with her mother and with the Red Guards who killed her father does Wenjie
make? What is the result of these attempts? What is the significance of these results?
Wenjie decides to pay a visit to her mother as a means to reconcile, yet her mother chooses to use her current
husband to pass a message to Wenjie that if let’s go of the talk of the past with her father then Wenjie and her
daughter would be welcomed into Shao lin’s family. Shao lin doesn’t attempt to directly communicate this but
Song 2
instead uses her husband as a mediator. Wenjie is enraged by this and makes no further contact with her mother,
cutting off ties officially with her family (299). Wenjie also writes letters to the soldiers who killed her father and
they schedule a meeting date of confrontation. The three soldiers who show up do not repent but relay their own
experiences to Wenjie instead to express their own struggles and how much they have been through. Both of the
aforementioned attempts for closure are fruitless to Wenjie and she further sees the hopelessness of humanity,
strengthening her desire to welcome the Trisolarans to Earth (302).
7. How does Wenjie meet "Bethune" in Chap. 27? What does he want to change, and what is his motivation for this
change? What is the result of Wenjie's final meeting in China with Bethune?
Wenjie meets Bethune while on a trip to establish a location for a radio astronomy observatory and hears about this
foreigner who plants trees up the hills and decides to meet him. After his introduction, Mike Evans shares with the
group his goal to save more lives that are overlooked and he does so by planting trees to save swallows in the area.
He reasons this by sharing his experience of attempting to save many birds in the midst of an oil spill and as that
image continues to haunt him, Mike decides to try to achieve his goal in any way possible. Thus, Evans studied
biology to expand his knowledge and came up with the concept of Pan-Species Communism, in which he would like
all lives of all species to be treated equally (307). Wenjie meets Evans again under the circumstances that the
villagers would like to cut down his trees. Evans shares that he had inherited most of his father’s money and that
even if he devoted his assets to this cause, humans as a whole will still continue on the path of destruction. Ye
Wenjie agrees with this idea and shares her knowledge of Trisolaris with Evans and they become “comrades,” thus
setting the foundations for the ETO (312).
8. How is the second Red Coast Base described in Chap. 28? What is it's significance?
The second Red Coast Base, built by Evans, is described as quite a large ship, or a “floating steel island.” This
design proves two conveniences
— one of easier positioning and the other of evasion from others. The second Red
Coast Base had received a message from Trisolaris saying that they have already headed for Earth and this
communication of information officially makes Wenjie the commander of ETO (314).
9. Why is the ETO called "an organization of spiritual nobles" (317)? How are the members of the ETO different
from common people?
ETO consists of people who are from elite backgrounds and a high level of education. Although there were attempts
to expand ETO to the common people, such efforts have failed, so ETO is called "an organization of spiritual
nobles” due to its limited membership. Members of ETO have decided to align with those other than the human
race, while the common people still remain loyal to their own species (317).
10. How does Wenjie participate in the ETO? How does the organization change and grow? What more do we learn
about the Redemptionists and the Adventists?
Wenjie was simply a symbol of leadership and even she did not know the specific details of ETO and its numbers.
Due to its membership composition, ETO remained relatively untouched until recently, as the members began to
take up arms and attract the attention of governments (318). Furthermore, factions were formed within the
organization between the Adventists and the Redemptionists. We learn that the Adventists were the earliest group in
ETO and consisted of those who have lost all faith in humanity while the Redemptionists were more religiously
based and believed “in the Trisolaran faith” (319).
11. What is the purpose of the Three Body game?
The Three Body game spread the influence of ETO and communicated the culture and history of the Trisolarans.
This allowed for the recruitment of new members of ETO and also caused ETO to gain more access to people of
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