Story of Your Life

One word that is repeated quite often within Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang is the word “you” (or “your”). The main character, Louise Banks, addresses her deceased daughter with this pronoun intermittently throughout the story while recounting her tale of working as a translator for the government and communicating with alien life-forms called “heptapods” that have landed on earth. Banks even begins the story using the word "you" while speaking to her deceased daughter, immediately indicating to the reader that her daughter’s life and death are important features of the story, although it is not immediately clear to the reader in what ways.

The moments when the main character addresses her daughter complicate the time frame of the story and thereby pique the reader’s interest. For example, in the opening paragraph Louise states “Your father is about to ask me the question…We came out onto the patio…then I told your dad I wanted to dance…now we’re slow dancing…Right now your dad and I have been married for two years…when we move you’ll still be too young to remember…” (117). The verbs in this sentence switch from present to future tense, making it seem as if Louise is watching a film or looking back on her life in some other form and is explaining to her unborn daughter the past events replaying in her mind. The reader can also clearly see because of these sections in the story that the author has more information to reveal concerning Louise’s daughter, and is thereby encouraged to continue reading.

The segments when Louise uses the pronouns “you” or “your” to address her daughter often parallel the fantastical incidents regarding the heptapods that Louise divulges to the reader. For example, while speaking to her daughter, Louise communicates an event that will occur when her daughter is sixteen. “Don’t worry Mom…We’ll do it so that he won’t know. Roxie, you ask me about what the weather will be like tonight. Then I’ll say what I think of Mom’s date” (130). Her daughter spoke of Louise’s date using phrases that implied something different from what she was saying, as if Louise's daughter was speaking an entirely different language with her mother and friend. On a similar note, Louise then informs the reader of her encounters with the heptapods and of the moment when she realized that the written and spoken form of the heptapods’ language were basically two separate languages. The normality of the first anecdote makes the descriptions of the encounters with the alien life forms seem more real. Because Louise divulges experiences that the reader can relate to, her accounts of the heptapods are much more believable.  

Therefore, word “you” (or “your”) is a central motif in Story of Your Life. The moments when the main character uses this word are moments when she reveals something personal about her own life that give a deeper meaning to her interactions with the heptapods. Furthermore, the sections when this word is used also work to keep the reader interested in the plot as Louise reveals certain pieces of information about her life that clue in on a larger story not fully been revealed.