i think that the biggest question when looking at the end of project hail mary is was ryland justified in his decision to not go to space and save his own life? the thing is, for a while i thought no, that he should have chosen to save the world, and that he was being selfish in his decision to simply delay his death and doom the world. to be honest, i’m not sure if i still believe that, but if i did, then the ending wouldn’t make very much sense.
sure, he chose to give up his life at earth being hailed as a hero and save rocky in the end, but he didn’t actually end up dying, which i thought was just bc the author couldn’t bring himself to have ryland actually die. he made the choice, sure, but also didn’t have to actually face the consequences and had a cushy life at rocky’s planet where he could do what he loved the most: teaching. and yet in the beginning he couldn’t bring himself to save his students.
if rylands choice was really actually wrong and the ending was to show that he made the correct decision in the end, then why not have the results of said decision occur? not having ryland actually die due to his decision undermines the story narratively as well as what his decision actually meant.
the other option is that ryland was justified in his decision. to be honest, im not too keen on this option either. i think that one of the main themes in phm is bravery, or rather, rylands lack of it. he faced a little hardship during his time as a scientist, was fired, and then ran away to teaching. and although andy weir tries to establish this, the thought that his favorite thing in the world is teaching and that that’s his purpose in life doesn’t get across, especially due to his choice to not go on the mission.
but then also, there is this idea that ive had for a while that mediocrity should not be punished. people should be able to live without having to get some way to work and get money. people should have that right to live. so does ryland. sure he didn’t have any family or lovers or close friends, but that doesn’t mean that he was disposable in any way. i do think that there’s a possibility that eva was saying that to soothe herself, rather than as a credible reason.
but if ryland was valid in his choice to not go on the mission, then does the ending make sense?
long answer, rylands choice would represent his character development not through being the correct thing to do that he should have done before, but rather representative of the fact that he is able to be the brave kind of person that he wants to be, and the defeatist mindset he’s had throughout the whole book/movie is actually false.
he can be brave, he isn’t inherently a coward, he can save his friends, he is capable of saving earth, and even erid.
stratt was wrong for sacrificing him, but also that betrayal was one that showed her belief in his worth in some twisted way.
ryland teaching at the end would show both his own mental atonement for not trying to save his kids and to show that he can contribute to society rather than that being his life purpose job even if he does genuinely love it. even the technology that he brought was able to shoot erid centuries into the future, and his very being is able to contribute in that scientists can study him and find out how an alien (humans) work.
him being with rocky is him being able to continue probably the most important relationship that he’s ever had and definitely the most important relationship he had currently. i’m not rly sure abt the movie, but in the book he was so far ahead in the future that it was likely stratt and everyone that he had ever known was dead, i think.
im sure i could come up with many more reasons as to why the ending would be fulfilling ryland in this possibility and overall as a narrative.
so now i’m sure that after this very long spiel of mine that you’re wondering:
if this ending and interpretation of rylands choice makes so much sense, then why can’t i just believe it?
well because that’s exactly what it is.
the idea that ryland was wrong for choosing to not go to space is valid. ryland believes this himself, even at the end. while this is most likely due to rylands own nature and perspective, we don’t get the sense that he was doing a good thing in refusing to go, or that stratt was doing something wrong in making him go.
the perspective that ryland was completely in the wrong this entire time is valid.
some people just think that way, which is even shown through stratts decision and entire character.
if other people watch or read hail mary and come out with the very valid perspective that ryland was wrong for choosing to not go, then isn’t the ending not narratively satisfying at all?
you can’t just choose to believe that ryland was valid for not wanting to sacrifice himself and being okay with a significant part of the population being dead as a result bc the ending would make more sense.
im sure that most people on tumblr would think that ryland was justified in his choice, simply because most people who are willing to participate in fandom spaces usually like the main character and sympathize with them. but me personally, i didnt agree at all, and thought that it was morally reprehensible to kill at least a billion people so your own end could be delayed.
its obviously a difficult choice, but i thought that stratt’s decision to force ryland to go was right, since her entire job is making sure that the majority lives, and she even went to speed up global warming in order to make project hail mary possible.
so i guess that the issue i have with the ending of phm is that it only works from one perspective.
