We're Not from Here

“‘Was that the one about the clothes?’ The old man grimaced in sympathy.

‘Yeah, that was a bit of a misfire. But don’t let it get you down! You know what they say: “Dying’s easy. Comedy’s hard.”’

‘People say that?’ I’d never heard it before. To be honest, it seemed a little inappropriate.

‘They used to. Back in my theater days. Guess it made more sense back then.’”

This passage is part of a conversation between Lan, Jens, Naya, and the unnamed man who stops to chat with them about the videos the kids make. The quotation “Dying’s easy. Comedy’s hard” is an old theater saying primarily attributed to character actor Edmund Gwenn (1877-1959). The quotation suggests that it’s easy to quit but much more difficult to keep going and uplift those around you in the process. The line gets to the heart of the novel, as Lan later depends on comedy to save the human race and change the Zhuri’s opinion of humans.

“Even more shocking were the almost nine hundred people who voted to go back to Earth. All the scientists agreed it wouldn’t be livable again for hundreds of years, but the Earthers refused to believe them.

Jens and his dad were Earthers. ‘You’ll see,’ Jens told Naya and me. ‘It’s going to be fine. Once you’re off living with those alien freaks, you’re going to wish you were back on Earth with us.’”

Shortly after most humans decide to journey to Choom, two smaller groups choose to try their luck elsewhere. One group returns to Earth against the advice of scientific experts on Earth’s damage. Jens and his dad represent the danger of holding on to the past. Though Earth is not livable, neither Jens nor his dad wants to believe it because they want things to go back to the way they were. Their fear of an uncertain future ultimately leads to their deaths, whereas Being Truthful With Ourselves Lets Us Grow.