71 pages 2 hours read

Ted Chiang

Stories of Your Life and Others

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 2002

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Story 7Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Story 7 Summary: “Hell Is the Absence of God”

This fantasy story, told in third person point of view, centers on three characters: protagonist Neil Fisk and his two foils, Janice Reilly and Ethan Mead. It is set in a world where angel visitations are not only real but also commonplace, causing humans to develop complex reactions to such events.

Born with a congenital deformity that renders his left leg shorter, Neil has never believed in God. However, during a visitation by a lesser angel, Nathanael, in a shopping district, four miracle cures occur, but there are also eight victims of the physically destructive angelic descent. One of the victims is Neil’s wife, Sarah, whose soul ascends to Heaven. Neil joins a support group for victims of Nathanael’s visit and their families, but he cannot bear the servile tone of devotion most of the people express. He then joins a group of those angry with God for losing loved ones during a visitation. Neil always assumed he would end up in Hell, which manifests itself occasionally and can be seen through the transparent ground. It is a place for lost souls who are severed from God and who appear to exist almost like people on Earth.

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By Ted Chiang

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