“She had screamed and screamed, but she had been drowned out by the frenzied waves of slogans and cheers.”

The frenzied nature of the Cultural Revolution elevates all emotions to their highest level, obfuscating reality through extremes. Ye Wenjie’s screams of pain and grief are indistinguishable from the excitement and fervor of the students. In such an extreme moment, all emotional clarity is lost amid the noise and the chaos of the revolution. In such a situation, nothing precise—such as scientific results—can be trusted.

“Even a fish can be used to commit a crime.”

Shi’s blunt, uncouth insight is a stark reminder to the academic Wang of the importance of perspective. Shi innately understands complicated topics but lacks the education needed to express such ideas in an academic manner. Shi is like the fish used to commit a crime, an unconventional but effective object which becomes useful when circumstances arise.

“Her world was too simple, and all she had were ethereal theories. When they collapsed, she had nothing to lean on to keep on living.”

Ye Wenjie regrets introducing abstract topics into her daughter’s life. This regret ironically foreshadows her decision to invite the Trisolarans to Earth. The aliens have the potential to completely alter the way in which humans relate to one another, turning a relatively simple world into a complex one. Ye makes the same mistake with the aliens as she did with her daughter.