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Though the entire story foreshadows the dangerous effects of Earthers' colonization of Aqueduct, the following quote, said by Mist at the end during the Mother-Infant festival, essentially solidifies her descent into exile as her entire culture and even her daughter changes right before her eyes. "'Am I to be like those women?' she asked. 'Standing on the sidelines like a childless woman, while your life passes me by?'"

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Language is a crucial aspect of any culture, and so gradual language death means significant changes must be occuring within that culture. Language death is often brought about when native speakers begin learning another language in order to seek prestige or economic opportunity, which is exactly what's happening with the Aqueduct people. It goes to show how important language and communication is among natives of the same place, and it's unfortunate that Mist has to watch her daughter slowly turn her back on her heritage.

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Referring to my prior mention of exile, Mist begins to feel like an outsider as the rest of her people and her family assimilate and succumb to the influence of the Earthers. This sculpture by Bruno Catalano is meant to portray what exile feels like, and to me represents how Mist must feel at the end when she realizes that her daughter losing touch with their native language ultimately means that she's losing touch with her mother.

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On page 140,  the narrator explains that "my mind was cast in the mold of human, sequential languages, and no amount of immersion in an alien language can completely reshape it." It's been debated for decades whether or not the language we speak influences our cognition or our thoughts. The narrator of "Story of Your Life" seems to believe it does, as she realizes her perception of reality begins to change as she immerses herself in the Heptapods' languages.

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How Language Shapes the Way We Think | Lera Boroditsky | TED

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The description of the Heptapod and human interactions made me want to pick an image that would depict two subjects, each peering through the same two way glass, studying and observing each other, but not truly knowing the other's intentions. Communication is important to facilitate transactions and interactions between anything and anyone, which is why the first mission by authorities in the short story is to establish communication. But they're only able to progress so far when neither side is truly understanding each other, or fully understanding the vast differences that exist between them.

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The movie Arrival which is based on "Story of Your Life" depicts the Heptapods' written language in a way that differs from my imagination of it while I was reading, which I think is another of showing that language and the ways in which we communicate can greatly influence the way we visualize and perceive things that are described to us. Ultimately, both stories express how our language, for human and alien alike, is a large part of our identities and shape almost every aspect of our lives, if not all of it.