Exhalation

Chiang again employs the structure of telling a story within a story.

One story focuses on a journalist in the near-future from the first-person perspective. This narrator sees that technological advancements have impeded his daughter Nicole’s ability to write. Adding to his familial issues, Nicole’s mother, Angela, leaves the family to “[crisscross] the globe” (185).

In this world, millions of people, including Nicole, use lifelogs. Lifelogs involve wearable cameras that record video of their lives. The company Whetstone creates an upgraded lifelog system called Remem. Remem pulls up recorded memories instantaneously without the speaker even needing to speak.

The narrator starts writing an article about “the potential downsides of Remem” (190). He points to Remem creating unnecessary squabbles between couples, ending relationships. He speaks to a Whetstone representative, Erica, who believes Remem will more often help people “become more forgiving” (193). The journalist is skeptical, feeling that “In most cases we have to forget a little bit before we can forgive” (198). He points to a bad fight he still remembers where his daughter Nicole yelled at him, blaming him for her mother leaving. This fight served as a wakeup call for the narrator, who over the next few years strove to improve his relationship with his daughter. He believes time, and a little bit of forgetting, allowed this to happen. He wonders, “Would those years of repair have been possible with Remem?” (200).

The journalist decides to test Remem out himself, using a compilation of footage from other people’s lifelogs. He chooses to re-experience his fight with Nicole and discovers that he actually said the words he attributed to Nicole. He denies the video memory is real, but he eventually comes to realize he’s been wrong all these years and had only “imagined a narrative of self-improvement” (216).

The narrator goes to Nicole’s apartment and apologizes. Nicole is flustered and tells her dad the real reason their relationship got better was because she “started seeing a therapist when [she] went to college” (221). The narrator feels terrible about his skewed perspective on his relationship with his daughter. He promises to “use Remem to get an honest picture of [himself]” and to try to “be more considerate” (222). In the end, the narrator recommends Remem because “The point is not to prove you were right; the point is to admit you were wrong” (228). Nicole starts to use Remem too and “[discovers] that her recollection isn’t perfect either” (228), allowing her relationship with her dad to improve even more.

The narrator from the first story writes the second story, and it is in the third person perspective. He tells the tale of Jijingi, a tribesman of the Shangev tribe in Tivland. Jijingi’s tribe receives a visit from a European missionary named Moseby, whom they greet with polite skepticism. Moseby shows Jijingi written language, a foreign concept, as Jijingi comes from an oral culture.

Jijingi continues to learn about writing from Moseby. Jijingi still finds written stories lack the nuance and details of a spoken story, but he comes to value that “Writing let you look at your thoughts in a way you couldn’t if you were just talking […] you could improve them, make them stronger and more elaborate” (205). 

At 20, Jijingi becomes his tribe’s European-mandated scribe. Jijingi’s tribal leader, Sabe, is relieved Jijingi can serve the role of scribe, as opposed to a European appointee, saying “They wield their knowledge of writing like a long gun” (209). Jijingi starts to spend most of his days as a court reporter for Sabe, cataloguing civil disputes and rulings.

A few years pass, and the Europeans demand that the numerous tribes consolidate into more manageable “septs” (217). An argument breaks out over what tribe Jijingi’s should merge with: the Kwandi or the Jechira. Accompanied by Moseby, Jijingi consults written lineage records from the Europeans to help end the dispute.

Jijingi discovers that his tribe is more closely related to the Jechira. However, his tribe has a stronger alliance with the Kwandi, and Sabe would prefer to form a sept with them. Jijingi argues briefly with Sabe but Jijingi realizes that what is more important than what is written is what is right for his community. Jijingi decides to not tell anyone else about the tribe’s lineage and let them join the Kwandi. He decides he will keep writing while still remaining true to his culture’s oral tradition.

The narrator from the first story reveals that the story he’s written about the Tiv is based on a true story, but that he took “liberties to make a better narrative. I’ve told a story in order to make a case for the truth” (229). On the other hand, he has tried to be as accurate as possible in his retelling of his relationship with Nicole. He informs the reader that he’s making his lifelog recordings public. He encourages the reader to watch them to ensure he is telling the truth. The story ends with the line “And if you think I’ve been less than honest, tell me. I want to know” (230), confirming the narrator is trying to change for the better.