Solaris

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1961

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-9

Chapters 10-14

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Character Analysis

Dr. Kris Kelvin

Dr. Kris Kelvin is the protagonist and narrator of Solaris. He is a psychologist who has spent the last 12 years researching the titular planet’s ocean through texts. The novel begins with him completing a 16-month flight to the space station hovering above the planet. Kris expects to work alongside his mentor, Dr. Gibarian. He defines himself as a “Solarist,” a person dedicated to understanding Solaris’s ocean as a life-form in the hopes of communicating with it.

Ten years ago, Kris’s 19-year-old wife Rheya died by suicide, injecting herself with a drug after an argument. He believes himself responsible for her death, and the morning after his first night on the station, he encounters a perfect replica of her, a visitor sent to him by Solaris’s ocean. Overall, he is an emotional person who grows angry with his fellow scientists, Dr. Snow and Dr. Sartorius. Kris’s feelings toward “Rheya” begin as fear and develop into deep affection, to the point that he trusts her more than his human colleagues. The novel ends with him bidding the ocean farewell, still longing for the deceased Rheya—the original and the replica.

Rheya/Harey

The original Rheya, Kris’s 19-year-old wife, is described as a beautiful, sensuous woman. She was affectionate and devoted, but also tempestuous. Ten years ago, she threatened to die by suicide when Kris walked out on her, and ultimately followed through. Two copies of Rheya, visitors sent by Solaris’s ocean, appear on the space station. Though they are identical at the time of their arrival, their fates are different: Kris tricks the first Rheya into a space capsule, launching her into orbit, and welcomes the second Rheya, forming a relationship with her. The second Rheya demonstrates that visitors can exhibit change and sacrifice.

In the original Polish version of Solaris, Lem named Rheya “Harey,” a common name at the time of publishing (1961). Some other versions of the novel do the same.

Dr. Snow

Dr. Snow is the space station’s cyber technician and the first person Kris encounters upon his arrival. He is an older, gaunt man. When Kris first meets him, he is inebriated and has blood on his hands. Snow initially gives cryptic, frustrating answers to Kris’s questions. After Kris confronts his own visitor for the first time, Snow becomes more conversant. Like Dr. Sartorius, he conceals his visitors and continually kills them. Overall, Lem uses him as a control character: Snow voices various philosophical arguments, challenging Kris’s more emotional decisions. At the end of the novel, he surprises Kris by announcing his intention to remain on the station, as they discovered how to stop the creation of visitors.

Dr. Sartorius

Dr. Sartorius is the space station’s nuclear physicist. He, along with Dr. Gibarian, tried to provoke a direct response from Solaris’s living ocean with unauthorized experiments—eliciting the arrival of visitors. Like Dr. Snow, Sartorius conceals his visitors and continually kills them. Throughout the novel, he seeks ways to stop the ocean from sending visitors. Overall, Lem portrays him as withdrawn and untrusting. Kris dislikes Sartorius, perceiving him as pompous. Still, Sartorius pushes Kris to partake in his experiments, attempting to both communicate with the ocean and destroy the visitors. Ultimately, he succeeds in both endeavors.

Dr. Gibarian

Dr. Gibarian, a longtime researcher of Solaris, was Kris’s mentor on Earth—a relationship Kris looked forward to continuing on the space station. However, upon arriving at the station, he learns Gibarian died that very morning. As a “Solarist,” Gibarian was intent on establishing meaningful communication with Solaris’s ocean. This dream pushed him to help Dr. Sartorius conduct unauthorized experiments—which elicited the arrival of visitors. Losing his grip on reality as a result of his own visitor, he left messages for Kris, whom he hoped would continue his work, before dying by suicide.

One night, Gibarian appears to Kris in a dream, warning him of the more ruthless Snow and Sartorius. Kris realizes Solaris’s ocean sent Gibarian as a visitor to warn him and discuss its own nature.