u/kirinkirinki

I posted this to other places too, so if you saw this somewhere else, that's me.

Anyway I wanted to talk about Ryland Grace’s character arc in the book and the movie, specifically how different they are despite the story beats largely being the same.

I’ve thought about this for a long time & read other people’s analysis as well.

Imo it boils down to

- Book: cowardly -> brave/heroic

- Movie: alone -> connected

Book Grace’s character arc is fairly straightforward imo. He goes from someone who was too cowardly to sacrifice himself for the good of the many, to a person who can.

(I was actually impressed by the scene where he says he’d be needed more on earth as a teacher, bc it was so obviously wrong that the fact he was making such a weak excuse genuinely felt cowardly to me. Like imo yeah it’s understandable not to want to sacrifice yourself but that particular excuse felt cowardly.)

When he thinks about how Rocky and Blip A will be stuck in space, unable to reach Erid, he’s emotionally worried over Rocky, but rationally he also thinks (to quote) ‘And more important, Rocky’s people die. Billions of them.’ So imo emotionally he’s doing it to save his friend but rationally he’s doing it to save the planet.

This is further supported by the end of the book where (unlike the movie) he finds out that Earth is saved. Book Grace says (to quote) ‘Rocky…that news about Sol…it…it makes my whole life have meaning. You know?’ That was his biggest concern - whether Earth is saved.

So he goes from coward -> brave/heroic (able to sacrifice himself for / devoted to the good of the many)

Movie Grace’s arc was a bit harder to pin down for me. But I think he goes from someone who is unable to sacrifice himself for the good of the many, to someone who finds out that nevertheless, he is able to do it for the sake of one person.

The emphasis is not on coward -> brave : the movie notably doesn’t dwell on Grace’s self criticism over his decision aside from an ambiguous passing line. Instead the emphasis is (to quote) ‘You just need to find someone to be brave for’. Who he presumably didn’t have before, but now does.

So the emphasis is on connection.

At the end of the movie, (although this also happens in the book, the focus of the scene is different imo) the big thing Rocky tells him is that he can go home now. To which Grace asks if he can think about it. In the book he lists practical concerns, but in the movie he doesn’t. The implication in the movie version imo is that bc he’s now found a meaningful connection with another person, he’s not as desperate to go home.

So he goes from alone -> connected (able to sacrifice himself because now he has someone to sacrifice himself for)

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