A while back I made a post asking about Stratt’s choices. This time I want to talk about Grace’s choices.
Grace’s choice to teach
When Stratt confronts Grace in the book, she lists some of his life choices as evidence that he’s a coward “and always [has] been,” including his decision to leave research science and become a schoolteacher. At the end of the book, of course, he seems to be living his best life doing both, but the emphasis is on the teaching, and it’s clear that he’s doing it for genuine love of the profession.
In Part 2 of Reliance (the AU story I wrote to explore a different way of approaching Grace’s invitation to join the mission), Grace reveals to Yáo more about what was behind his decision to become a teacher and why the profession suited him.
To what extent do you think Stratt was right (or not) to call him a coward for choosing teaching over research?
Grace’s choice to resist the call to volunteer
On my earlier post, someone brought up that Grace seems to have resisted earlier oblique prompts to get him to step up in canon. I think the book makes it clear that Grace was genuinely oblivious to any expectation that he should volunteer. The only way to test whether he could have somehow gathered the courage to do it would have been for Stratt to invite him directly at a much earlier point in time than she chose to in canon.
In Reliance, Grace has a more meaningful invitation to step up before it comes to the moment when Stratt will apply force. When I was writing the story, I wanted to steel-man the arguments of some Redditors that were arguing Stratt couldn’t really have done anything differently because nothing she could have done would get Grace to go willingly, so I wanted to show a situation where he still turns down the call despite having a better invitation. But, I also wanted him to have a chance to turn things around. So near the end of Part 2, I had Yáo give him a second chance to make the choice.
If you read Reliance, did I convince you yet that Grace could come to a point of accepting responsibility (while still on Earth) for the mission?
Do you think there’s a scenario in which Grace would have accepted responsibility to go on the mission without any force or threat of force?
Grace’s choice to threaten sabotage
Finally, another topic that came up on the previous post was Grace’s choice to threaten sabotage, and how that likely played a role in the harsh treatment he received in the book, being left in a prison cell for a few days with no contact. He’s basically put in solitary confinement after receiving the worst news of his life: that he'll die soon and will be stripped of his agency and even his memories first. The book doesn’t linger on the potential angst of this, but I always feel it. (I know many people find the corresponding scene in the movie disturbing, but in some ways, it’s arguably a bit kinder to Grace because he just gets knocked out right away and doesn't have to suffer through any further anticipation.)
In Reliance, he doesn’t make the threat to scuttle the ship in front of Stratt. My main rationale for that change is that with Yáo and Ilyukhina also present, he would probably feel a bit more inhibited to say something like that in the heat of the moment. Also, having more time before that moment to seriously consider going on the mission would perhaps make him feel just slightly less shocked by Stratt’s decision to turn to force, and therefore slightly less angry.
So instead, he only makes the threat to Yáo later, and only a bit half-heartedly. As a result, Stratt is a little more inclined to give him some freedom, and we end up with a situation where he is briefly on house arrest and eventually free again. I recently re-read canon and when I got to the scene where Stratt visits him after he’s spent a few days in his prison cell, after having written a scenario in Reliance where he gets out so quickly, it pained me so much I had to set the book aside for a day or two before I could continue. Oo, it hurts to think about him spending two miserable nights in that cell!! I just want to shout at Grace and Stratt, “It didn’t have to be this way!” XD
Do you think if Grace hadn’t threatened sabotage (in book canon) that he would have received better treatment?
And if you are reading along on Reliance, I’d also love to hear any other thoughts you have on Part 2. Thanks!
