Chie

Chie, from Japan, is one of the six astronauts on the space station. The character of Chie is used to explore isolation, grief, and resilience in the novel. Chie embodies the tension between the professional demands of her role and the deeply personal emotions she faces, particularly in dealing with the death of her mother. The physical distance between Chie and Earth becomes a metaphor for the emotional distance she feels as she struggles to process her grief in an environment that offers little space for personal reflection or mourning. This isolation intensifies her pain, as she is unable to be with her family or participate in the traditional rituals of mourning that might offer some comfort.

Chie’s experiments on the mice aboard the space station serve as a significant aspect of her character development, particularly in how she processes grief and confronts the inevitability of death...