How to Talk to Girls at Parties

Science fiction often explores questions about life and the universe. It provides a way to examine the world from new angles. Science fiction and fantasy ask: What would be different if this happened? What would we see about ourselves that we wouldn’t otherwise as see? One can find such philosophical themes and concerns in much of Gaiman’s work. In “How to Talk to Girls at Parties,” he seems to ask, “What might we learn about human life if we interacted with nonhumans?” The alien girls in the story provide perspectives for considering some of these philosophical questions, such as how the universe was created, why any of us are here, and whether there is meaning to our lives. Gaiman seems less concerned with the answers and more interested in the quest to understand. Enn wants to understand girls so he can gain sexual experience. The girls, however, want to understand human life. Their stories show that their travels are intended for this purpose.

The hypothesis of linguistic relativity, also known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, suggests that our thoughts and feelings are structured by language. According to this theory, we can’t understand that for which we don’t have words, and language shapes our experience to make it comprehensible.