Saying Goodbye to Yang

“Saying Goodbye to Yang” by American author Alexander Weinstein is a speculative fiction short story that utilizes its near-future setting to explore themes of Technology as a Lens for Human Behavior, Race Class, and Gender in a Dystopic Future, and Grief, Loss, and Mortality. Told from his point of view, the story follows Jim, an overworked father in suburban Michigan. Jim confronts the “death” of his adopted daughter’s robot companion Yang and contemplates the role of this “Big Brother” within their family unit.

First published in Zahir, a speculative fiction anthology edited by Sheryl Tempchin, “Saying Goodbye to Yang” appears in Weinstein’s debut short story collection Children of the New World, published by Picador in September 2016. Like the other stories in this collection, “Saying Goodbye to Yang” focuses on the impact of technology—e.g., cloning, artificial intelligence, and virtual spaces—on societal and familial roles. Set in a future that resembles our own, Weinstein use genre tropes to investigate and critique questions of identity, class, and political ideology. An overarching theme in Weinstein’s work is humanity’s reliance on technology and our relationship to electronics that blur the line between machine and human.

Among other accolades, Children of the New World was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2016. A film adaptation of “Saying Goodbye to Yang” was released in 2021 as After Yang, written and directed by South Korea-born American director Kogonada.

This guide refers to the story as it appears in the paperback edition of Children of the New World, published by Picador in 2016.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide includes racist and prejudiced views of Asian Americans.

“Saying Goodbye to Yang” takes place in a society in which scientific advancements have given rise to borderline sentient technology. Jim, a married white man with an adopted Chinese daughter, purchases a robot named Yang to help babysit and teach his daughter about Chinese culture.

“Saying Goodbye to Yang” employs the first-person point of view of Jim, following his thoughts and actions over a weekend in which his family’s robot companion, Yang, critically malfunctions. Jim and his wife, Kyra, both white, purchased Yang for their three-year-old daughter, Mika, who was adopted from China. Yang helps with childcare due to their busy work schedules, but he also teaches Mika about her heritage, distilling “Fun Facts” about Chinese history and culture. He has become a part of the family.

When Yang slams his head against the table at breakfast one morning, Kyra takes Mika out of the room as Jim roughly pries open the panel on Yang’s back to power the robot down. Unable to reboot Yang, Jim hoists the robot, whose heft surprises him: “his weight that of the eighteen-year-old-boy he’s designed to be” (7). While taking Yang to his car, Jim’s neighbor, George, refers him to his repairman, Russ Goodman, who will be cheaper than the professional technicians at the electronics store, Quick Fix. Jim is conscious of money, considering his and his wife’s modest jobs and the fact that Yang is an older model with an expired warranty. Jim is skeptical as George is very different from him—he paints his face for the Super Bowl and is raising twins that are clones of him and his wife Dana, a fashionable practice that Jim and Kyra find distasteful.

Jim is immediately put off by Russ, who calls Yang Korean and responds “Same thing” (9) when Jim corrects him. Jim notes that tensions between white Americans and Asians/Asian Americans have been fraught since the US invaded North Korea. Jim recalls his family being searched at the airport, noting suspicions aimed at Mika and Yang. Yang is beyond repair, and Russ suggests taking out his voice box and language system, which Mika can still use to communicate with her “Big Brother.” Jim decides to take Yang to Quick Fix for a second opinion.

Jim recalls raking leaves with Yang and sharing a beer afterward, realizing he considers Yang a son, even if Mika will eventually outgrow her babysitter. The teenage Quick Fix technician confirms Russ’s prognosis, so Jim leaves with Yang’s voice box and body so he won’t be thrown into the trash or “ripped apart in a recycling plant” (20-21). When he gets home, he is surprised by George’s tender sympathy.

Jim reads to Mika for the first time in a long time, having relied on Yang as a caretaker for his daughter. After Mika falls asleep, Kyra comforts Jim, noticeably distraught despite her own concerns about who will pick up the slack with Yang gone. Jim enters Yang’s room and is affected by his collection of dead butterflies and moths by the window. He is also surprised to find a craft project on his desk made of matchsticks. Jim keeps these mementos of “the boy Yang might have been” (20).

The next morning, the family holds a funeral for Yang. Each of them says goodbye and embraces. George leaves a bouquet of orchids on their doorstep with his family’s condolences. The flowers are placed by a photo of Yang in front of his voice box. Mika says goodbye, and Yang’s voice box responds, puzzled: “But, little sister, where are we going?” (22). Jim assures Yang they are all together, as usual. After a pause, Yang chimes in with a “Fun Fact” about China. Jim ponders Yang and the orchids, “acknowledging how little [he] truly know[s] about this world” (22).