Solaris

Kris meets with Snow to discuss Sartorius’s disruptor, with Sartorius’s new plan being to use an encephalograph to send Kris’s thoughts into the ocean—to convince it to stop sending visitors. Snow chides Kris for wanting to take Rheya to Earth, as it is not physically possible for her to leave. Though he consents to the experiment, Kris is determined to keep Rheya with him.

Sartorius and Snow strap Kris down and broadcast his brain waves to the ocean. Kris fears this will deprive him of Rheya. Chapter 11 also contains a lengthy reflection on the various schools of thought regarding Solaris. Kris notes there were “entire generations of scientists who believe that their observations were evidence of a conscious will, teleological processes and activity monitored by some inner need of the ocean” (166). While this is true, Kris notes that his dissertation in favor of Solaris’s potential intelligence was criticized.

When six days pass with no clear response from Solaris, the researchers decide they will send Kris’s thoughts once more. This time, he experiences dreams in which he becomes alien matter, surrounded by pink globules that grant him knowledge. He is embraced by a woman, but it is not Rheya.