Exhalation

The unnamed main character of the title story “Exhalation,” this mechanical being is able to “open the casing of [his] own arm” (39-40) and has detachable and refillable lungs. The narrator’s exact profession is never defined but describes itself as “a student of anatomy” (39) and spends some of its days lecturing students on the subject. This passion for anatomy motivates the narrator to dissect its own brain, leading to the bleak discovery that its species will inevitably die when air pressure equalizes in their universe. In this way, Chiang seamlessly intertwines the narrator’s profession and interests into a plot that affects the world at large.

The mechanical narrator is intelligent and detail oriented. When outlining its experiment, it states “Assembling all this equipment took months, but I could not afford to be anything less than meticulous” (42) and goes on to describe all the mechanisms in even greater detail. As is the case with most of Exhalation, the narrator also shows a sensitive and emotional depth. Despite the inevitable death of its universe, the narrator hopes its world might someday be useful for interstellar travelers. Furthermore, the mechanical narrator ends the story not with cold scientific data, but with the advice to “[c]ontemplate the marvel that is existence” (57). Chiang uses the mechanical narrator to show a scientific mind that is both brilliant and inquisitive, but never at the sacrifice of empathy and compassion.

Ana is one of the main characters of the novella “The Lifecycle of Software Objects.” Her childhood dream was to work with apes in Africa, but the apes’ dwindling population forced her to settle on working at a zoo. Unfortunately, zoos are failing, and Ana begins the story having gone back to school to earn a software degree. Her love of animals and need to find a job in a tech-dominated world serve as enticing motivations for her to accept the job training Neuroblast digients for Blue Gamma.

Ana is nurturing and protective. Upon accepting the job at Blue Gamma, she never stops caring for the digients, Jax in particular. When Blue Gamma goes out of business, Ana takes in Jax without hesitation. When Neuroblast digients are incompatible with Real Space, she fights relentlessly to find a way to get the digients ported. She is even willing to accept a questionable job offer for Jax’s betterment. Ana knows accepting that job would anger her boyfriend, Kyle, but she admits “she’s been with Jax longer than any boyfriend; if it comes down to it, she knows whom she’ll choose” (166-68). More than any other character, Ana treats the digients as intelligent beings that deserve love and respect. Chiang’s intention with “The Lifecycle of Software Objects” was to show that complex artificial intelligences will require time and love to develop properly, and we see that message through Ana Alvarado.

Derek Brooks is the other main character of “The Lifecycle of Software Objects.” A character designer at Blue Gamma, Derek also cares deeply for the Neuroblast digients. When Blue Gamma goes out of business, Derek takes in two digients, Marco and Polo. Like Ana, Derek is passionate about Marco and Polo’s development, and he is one of the first to recommend giving the digients homework.

Derek’s primary internal conflict is his unrequited love for Ana. The time he and Ana spend together raising their digients causes a rift with his wife, Wendy, eventually resulting in their divorce. Unlike Ana, who chooses her digient over her other personal relationships, Derek cares for Ana more than anyone else. At the end of the story, Derek lets Marco go to Binary Desire so that Ana doesn’t have to take a job Derek isn’t comfortable with her accepting. Derek feels “Ana is a person, and no matter how amazing he thinks Marco is, he values Ana more” (166-67). Derek’s actions show another way in which people make sacrifices for love. Tragically, his values don’t entirely align with Ana’s; Derek values Ana more than anything else; Ana values Jax more than anything else. Because of this, the story sadly ends with Ana frustrated with Derek and his true feelings still unknown to her. 

Dorothea is an archaeologist, a devout believer in God, and the main character of “Omphalos.” Despite living in a male-dominated culture, she passionately practices her discipline. Dorothea believes scientific inquiry brings people closer to the Lord, and it is her life’s work to continue understanding God’s purpose for humans. She prays regularly, and the story is formatted as her prayers to God (with the exception of one section addressed to her cousin). This structural choice further develops Dorothea’s characterization, strengthening the reader’s impression of her devoutness.

Ironically, it is Dorothea’s inquisitive nature that ultimately finds her reading a scientific article that makes her question her faith. With Dorothea, Chiang once again shows that a character’s passions and interests can lead to discoveries that upend their beliefs and preconceptions. However, Dorothea is also strong. By the end, she reasons, “we as humans are capable of creating meaning for our own lives” (269). Through Dorothea’s crisis of faith and the reawakening of her agency at the story’s conclusion, we see that while knowledge can be painful, it ultimately makes us stronger.

Nat is the main character of the novella and final story, “Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom.” She is a recovering drug addict who got clean in NA. Still, Nat is morally dubious; she is willing to help Morrow with his illegal side gigs and agrees to manipulate Lyle into selling his prism so that it can turned over for a huge profit. Nat sees her job at SelfTalk, and her partnership with Morrow, as a means to an end. Eventually, she hopes to get a fresh start. She rationalizes her current behavior, thinking “she needed more money to [go away], so she had to keep working with Morrow before she’d be able to not work with him anymore” (298). Nat’s end goal of a better life is an admirable one, but she still finds herself making questionable choices.

Nat’s primary conflict is an internal one. She is frustrated by the notion that she isn’t a good person and never will be. Before deciding whether or not to sell Lyle’s prism to Scott Otsuka, she angrily tells the support group “I want to know whether my decisions matter!” (325). By the end of the story, she decides her decisions do matter, and she uses her agency to do something selfless; help Dana move on from her own past misdeeds. Nat isn’t an entirely changed person by the conclusion of the story, but she has made significant choices that send her toward a happier and healthier life. With Nat’s character we see the dangerous effect bad habits can have on a person’s cognition and behavior. Because Nat made a series of bad choices in the past, she starts to doubt she can make good ones at all anymore.

Unlike the other main characters in Exhalation, Nat’s characteristics fall more in line with a villain. We spend a good deal of the story watching her find ways to manipulate Lyle, and after that, setting up the deal to sell Lyle’s prism to Scott. Chiang’s choice of Nat as the main character is a significant one; by giving her a character arc in which she starts to make better choices, Chiang is showing readers how someone we might perceive as a bad person can redeem themselves. This arc would not be as powerful if Nat wasn’t the main character of “Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom.” 

Morrow is Nat’s manager at SelfTalk and a nefarious individual. He willingly extorts customers, including the weak and vulnerable, such as the elderly and bedridden Jessica Oehlsen. Morrow also hangs up signs for SelfTalk near support group locations, hoping people will resort to selling him their prisms, which is how he first learns about Lyle’s valuable prism. Upon seeing Morrow, Scott’s assistant Ornella observes him as “lean and lanky. An opportunist” (323). This is an apt analysis by Ornella. Throughout the entire story, Morrow never regrets anything he does.

Morrow serves as a foil to Nat. He is all of Nat’s worse qualities, magnified. He is willing to do anything to get ahead in life and make some money. Nat has moments of guilt about her actions; Morrow never does. His presence provides multiple tension points for the reader; he is a villain and also represents the type of person Nat might become if she doesn’t turn her life around. Furthermore, Morrow isn’t interested in redemption or atonement, two central themes for Chiang. The consequences of ignoring those tenets becomes shockingly apparent when Jessica Oehlsen’s son, Glenn, shoots and kills Morrow. With Morrow’s character, Chiang dramatically shows the consequences of living an opportunistic and amoral life.