Death's End

Throughout Death’s End, the motif of an origami boat reflects the theme of The Fragility and Resilience of Humanity. The image of the boat first appears in Yun Tianming’s dream: “He sat on a small origami boat drifting over placid water, oarless. The sky was a misty, dark gray. […] There was no horizon, no shore” (34). The dream works as an analogy of humanity’s position in the universe: The paper boat carries the dream’s sole human, while the large expanse of water shows the unlimited vastness of the universe—a universe whose material component poses a direct threat to human’s vessel. Additionally, in the dream, Yun Tianming has little agency to propel himself because he lacks oars; similarly, humanity cannot steer a safe course in the vast universe because they lack the technologically advanced tools to do so.

Nevertheless, the dream’s boat does not sink or falter. Instead, despite the threat of the water both above and below the boat, and the lack of a shore or destination, the boat still carries Yun Tianming. This small protection signals that the story of the boat will eventually become a potential lifeline to humans when Yun Tianming uses the image to hint to

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