Today on Afin is sad about Project Hail Mary again, thoughts about sacrifice and doing whatās right, but also how pragmatism comes up again and again in the book.
A scene that I was sad that the movie didnāt include was the discussion with Grace and Stratt about the medically induced comas, and how Grace punctuated his point with: science and morality both give the same answer here and you know it.
Because that idea of science and morality having the same answer comes up again after DuBois and Shapiro both die, and itās either Grace, who holds a doctorate in microbiology, or someone who has an undergraduate in chemistry with a minor in biology, to replace them.
While what Stratt did is undeniably fucked up, there is no valid justification to prioritise the life of one man, over seven billion lives. Science and morality give the same answer here as they did during the coma discussion, and itās interesting to me how despite his appeal to emotions, his visceral desire to live, Grace frequently comes to the pragmatic decision, not the emotional one.
He does it during the coma discussion, he does it when Rocky saves him after they go fishing, he does it after the Taumoeba escape, and he does it once he finds Rocky as well.
Of course the fishing moment was before he remembers how desperate he was not to die but the others arenāt. Despite 3/4 of those moments being directly linked to his own survival, he chooses pragmatism over his own life.
And this leads me into what I think is my absolute favourite moment in the book, the mirroring of what Grace thinks to himself when debating whether or not to turn the Hail Mary around, and what Yao says to him when itās clear that Grace does not want to board the Hail Mary.
Yao: I urge you to say yes, billions of lives are at stake. Our lives matter little, in the face of such suffering.
Grace: But then, Rocky dies. And more importantly, Rockyās people die. Billions of them.
I love thinking about these two quotes together, I love them side by side so much, because the change in Grace is beautifully highlighted by thinking about them in tandem.
Because I donāt think the weight of what was at stake had really sunk in when Grace was still on Earth, when he was begging Stratt not to do this to him, when he spoke to her in his cell, I honestly donāt think the impact of his refusal had really registered for him.
Despite knowing, on paper, about it all, his fear, his desire for survival, it made it all secondary. He says it himself āhuman suffering is abstractā and yeah, heās thinking about his kids, but he does the same thing, he centres himself, and by doing that, his brain makes the impact of āwhat if the Hail Mary failsā into an abstract concept he can file away and not think about.
Protecting himself from his cowardice. (Please note, I donāt think itās wrong that Grace was a coward, I actually really like it, but he undeniably is preventing himself from thinking about the consequences of his refusal.)
But, after everything that he goes through, by the end of his mission to find out whatās happening at Tau Ceti, logic and morality have the same answer, going to find the Blip-A and take Rocky home.
And what I think is funny, is that when heās moving Rocky back to his environment, he voices this thought, āYeah heās a good guy and he saved my life, but this isnāt about us. Heās got a planet to save, why risk his whole mission for me.ā
Itās so reminiscent of Stratt accepting that she will likely be the worldās whipping boy once the Hail Mary launches. Her peace, her freedom, her life, mean nothing in the face of the total destruction astrophage will wreak. Each individual isnāt as important as the mission itself, as the planets theyāre trying to save.
Grace even highlights it again once he finds Rocky and upon Rocky learning that going to Erid spells Graceās doom, says: then you go home, you go home now, I wait here, Erid maybe send another ship someday
Grace: thatās ridiculous, do you really want to bet your species on that guess?
A pause and then āno.ā
Because in the end, the emotional aspect of it, the weight of Graceās life, doesnāt come close to balancing the weight of the billions of lives on Erid.
But wait! You might say, what about Rocky choosing to risk his life for Grace after they go fishing? His last words are: save Earth, save Erid, he seems very convinced heās going to die now. Why would he do that?
Because Grace is a science human. Itās an emotional choice, but itās backed by pragmatism. Rocky, by this point, has spent 42 years in the Tau Ceti system, having no luck in solving the astrophage crisis. He canāt even get a sample of astrophage until Grace shows up because itās not his field.
And theyāre on the Hail Mary, with equipment that would melt in Rockyās atmosphere, so itās all useless to him. And even if he could find a solution, something that is VERY unlikely considering he has no clue about human technology, Earth still dies.
Rocky knows about Graceās beetles, he knows that Grace knows where Erid is, if he dies and Grace lives, thereās the chance of Erid getting the information they need if Grace finds a solution.
If Rocky died there, Earth and Erid have a chance.
If Grace died there, Earth is doomed.
So Rocky makes the pragmatic choice, his life, in exchange for the chance of saving billions.
I just, I get emotional about how Project Hail Mary offers a bunch of scenarios where there is only one right answer, only one way forward, even if itās only a chance, thatās the choice you have to make.
And the characters who have these choices presented to them, make the same choice, the pragmatic decision, every time.
I just think itās neat okay.
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