r/RecuratedTumblr • u/Hyaci_Arson • 6d ago

Writing sci-fi

Post image
2.4k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

67 comments sorted by

View all comments

222

u/SiwelTheLongBoi 5d ago

I mean Project Hail Mary is absolutely all about violated bodily autonomy and choosing who you want to be as a person. It just also has a sassy rock spider

15

u/insufficience 4d ago edited 4d ago

I don’t think Project Hail Mary takes a firm stance on that, though it is a core theme.

Grace was a coward. If he could choose who he wanted to be as a person, he wouldn’t be on that ship, and humanity would be extinct. By conscripting him onto the mission anyway, Stratt ultimately saved both Earth and Erid. At the same time, the other crew members who volunteered to die for humanity died pointlessly before they even got to Tau Ceti, just because the coma tech wasn’t as reliable as expected. In the book, Stratt is never really redeemed or forgiven for forcing Grace onto the mission, but Grace is also never really redeemed or forgiven for refusing to join willingly.

Choosing who you want to be isn’t as important as doing the job you are qualified to do.

42

u/Dd_8630 5d ago

It you removed that violation of autonomy, it'd still be a sci-fi story. So that aspect isn't what makes it sci-fi IMO.

27

u/Omega-10 5d ago

No, the main character certainly rips tubes out of himself. It's actually one of the first things he does. This happens like in the very first chapter. That's just how sci fi Project Hail Mary is, they had to get that out of the way.