Question

What is the subject matter of the story "exhalation"?

Answer 1

its A. brain dissection

Answer 2

Answer:

I believe letter B. historical records is the best choice.

Explanation:

"Exhalation" is a short sci-fi story by author Ted Chiang, narrated by a character who belongs to a race of air-driven mechanical beings. The narrator-character decides to dissect his own brain and study it, which might lead us to believe the best answer is letter A. However, there is a whole reason behind such dissection that permeates the story even more than readers can grasp at first. The narrator is fascinated by the fact that memory is so fragile. Every time someone "dies" - runs out of air - in his word, when brought back to life, they forget who they are. Their memories are erased. Also, history has only began to be recorded by these mechanical beings quite recently, so their distant past is mystery to them.

After dissecting his own brain, the narrator comes to understand how it functions and why memories are easily erased from it. He also realized his race will be extinct due to change in pressure. Thus, he chooses to record his findings so that himself, his race, and their history won't be lost:

Which is why I have written this account. You, I hope, are one of those explorers. You, I hope, found these sheets of copper and deciphered the words engraved on their surfaces. [...] through the act of reading my words, the patterns that form your thoughts become an imitation of the patterns that once formed mine. And in that way I live again, through you.

Your fellow explorers will have found and read the other books that we left behind, and through the collaborative action of your imaginations, my entire civilization lives again.