In both these texts, the narrative utilizes the concept of remembering the future to comment on the power of free will and decision-making surrounding death. The plot introduces this concept through aliens. As the foreign species arrives on earth, Dr. Louise Banks is directed to work on translating their language so humans can communicate. Upon doing so, she finds she is able to remember as they do, in blocks. While she could always remember her past, she is now able to remember the future. Through this, though in the present she is not pregnant, she can remember that she will have a child, and that her child will die young. The story is told in multiple tenses, conveying information about how she engaged this ability through her work in the past, as well as small instances that compile to create the life of her daughter in the future.
ABSENCE OF FREE WILL?: One of the more complex underlying motifs of this story is agency. Throughout the novela, Chiang utilizes strategic structure, tense, and language to develop the notion that the narrator is aware of both her own and her daughter’s future, suggesting that either the prophecy is fabricated or that neither have agency over their lives, more likely the latter. Yet, he alters this implication by expanding on the understanding of their motivations. While both characters may have an anticipated outcome to their lives, Chiang stresses that neither are being forced to comply with what is prophesied. Rather, he demonstrates that each character is propelled by their motivations to follow their individual paths. While we may have a predetermined path to follow, Chiang advocates that free will and agency still prevail, but our motivations will provide a natural inclination to enact chronology.
DEALING WITH DEATH: As Louise's daughter's young death is indicated early in novel, a major theme throughout the story is considering how the narrator will shape her life around this inevitable truth. This ties in with the concept of free will, as Louise must not only consider whether she wants to stray from her set path if it means saving her daughter's life, but also if she is capable of altering it. The texts use this notion to comment on how one deals with an inevitable death, suggesting that death is a truth of life and that, ultimately, the only thing you can do is accept it.
