Cliff Miyashiro Character Analysis: Grief, Science, and Sacrifice in How High We Go in the Dark

Overview

Dr. Cliff Miyashiro is a UCLA archaeologist and evolutionary geneticist who anchors the novel's opening chapter, “30,000 Years beneath a Eulogy.” He arrives at a Siberian research outpost near the Batagaika Crater to continue the work of his daughter Clara, who died after falling through a cavern ceiling while studying ancient remains thawed from melting permafrost. His journey is simultaneously a scientific mission and a grief pilgrimage—a father attempting to complete what his daughter started while processing the guilt and unresolved tension that defined their relationship.

Cliff's presence in the novel is brief but foundational. He is the reader's first window into the thawing permafrost, the discovery of the mummified girl nicknamed Annie, and the novel virus that will spread across the world. His choices in the opening chapter set the stage for the Arctic plague that shapes every subsequent story in the book.

Plot Role

Cliff's narrative function is to introduce the central catastrophe of the novel. Through his eyes, readers encounter:

The Batagaika Crater, described by researchers as a “gateway to hell,” widening each year as permafrost melts
Annie, the 30,000-year-old mummified girl Clara discovered before her death
The novel virus found in Annie's genome, which is revealed to be part Neanderthal and part something with traits resembling starfish or octopus
The quarantine that traps the research team as the virus emerges

Cliff also carries a crucial thread of the novel's speculative mystery. Clara's missing purple crystal pendant—which she wore constantly and which was not recovered with her body—connects to a larger cosmic narrative revealed later in the book. In Chapter 14, “The Scope of Possibility”, readers learn that Clara was, in fact, an alien world builder who lived many lives across human history before working on climate change as Clara Miyashiro. This revelation reframes Cliff's grief: the daughter he mourned was something far more than human.

Motivations and Traits

Cliff's primary motivation is grief. He tells Maksim, “I'm here to help,” but his actions reveal a deeper need to stay connected to Clara. He asks to see the mummified girl immediately, reads Clara's diary, visits the cavern where she fell, and carries the dogū figurine she kept—a small stone humanoid he gave her as a junior high graduation gift.

His traits emerge through action:

Dutiful and scientifically grounded: He is introduced as an expert in archaeology and evolutionary genetics, and he approaches Clara's work with professional seriousness.
Emotionally reserved: Miki's later reflection in Chapter 9—wondering whether Cliff would ever cry—suggests a man who struggles to express feeling directly. He processes grief through objects, rituals, and work rather than words.
Guilt-ridden: The dogū figurine haunts him. He gave it to Clara as protection, and the fact that she kept carrying it into adulthood becomes a painful reminder of his failure to protect her.
Paternal and protective: His flashbacks show a father who wanted Clara to come home, who worried about Yumi growing up without her mother, and who told Clara he loved her and to stay safe as she left for Siberia.

Chronological Arc

Cliff's arc in the opening chapter moves from arrival to sacrifice:

Arrival: He lands at the outpost, learns about the quarantine, and is welcomed by the research team.
Encounter with Annie: He examines the mummified girl in the clean lab, beginning to understand the scale of Clara's discovery.
Discovery of the dogū: He finds the figurine wrapped in a sock in Clara's sleeping pod, along with a photo.
Visit to the cavern: Yulia guides him to the hole Clara fell through. He imagines Annie's life in the ancient cave.
The virus emerges: Dave tests positive for the novel virus. The quarantine extends. Tensions rise among the team.
The final act: Cliff walks alone to the crater's edge, imagines the virus being absorbed into the dogū, throws the figurine into the crater, and returns barely able to breathe.

Relationships

Clara (daughter): The central relationship of Cliff's arc. Their bond was complicated. A flashback at a dig site shows Clara accusing her parents of not being in a position to lecture her about being present for her child. Cliff wanted Clara to come home and be present for Yumi, but Clara was driven by a sense of urgency about climate change and global catastrophe. She kept color-coded journals tracking disasters, wars, and injustices, telling her father that everything is connected. Cliff's response—that she is only one person with one life—captures their fundamental disagreement about how to live in a broken world.

Miki (wife): Present in flashbacks, Miki is the emotional counterweight to Cliff's reserve. She suggests painting Clara and Yumi together, hoping to remind Clara of what she needs. In Chapter 9, her narration reveals the depth of the family's loss.

Yumi (granddaughter): Cliff video-chats with Yumi nightly, telling her fairy tales. He dreams of telling her that her mother has saved her—a hope that Clara's work will ultimately protect the next generation.

Yulia and Dave (colleagues): Yulia guides Cliff through the outpost and the cavern. Dave, the epidemiologist, tests positive for the virus, marking the moment when the plague becomes personal.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Going to Siberia: Cliff chooses to continue Clara's work rather than stay home with Miki and Yumi. This decision places him at the epicenter of the emerging plague and makes him a witness to the virus's origin.

Staying through the quarantine: When the quarantine extends, Cliff remains. He examines his body daily for symptoms, waiting for nothing or everything.

Throwing the dogū into the crater: Cliff's most significant act. He walks a mile to the crater's edge, imagines the virus being sucked into the figurine's stone belly, tells Clara he loves her, and throws it into the depths. The act is simultaneously a ritual of release, an offering to his daughter, and a symbolic attempt to undo the harm the thaw has unleashed. He returns barely able to breathe—whether from the physical exertion, the emotional weight, or exposure to the virus is left ambiguous.

Themes and Symbols

Cliff's arc connects directly to several of the novel's central themes:

Grief and mourning: Cliff's journey is a study in how grief manifests through work, ritual, and the handling of objects. The dogū figurine becomes a physical vessel for his sorrow.
Sacrifice and selflessness: His final act at the crater—offering the figurine to the earth—echoes the sacrifices other characters make throughout the novel.
Memory and legacy: Clara's diary, the dogū, the crystal pendant, and the photo in Cliff's wallet all serve as memory objects that connect the living to the dead.
Hope and resilience: Cliff's dream of telling Yumi that her mother has saved her reflects the novel's insistence on hope even in the face of catastrophe.

The dogū itself is a powerful symbol. Cliff gave it to Clara as a junior high graduation gift, explaining that Jōmon people used such figurines to absorb negative energy, evil, and illness. The fact that Clara kept it—and that Cliff finds it in her belongings—makes it a symbol of their bond, his failed protection, and his attempt to make amends.

Questions and Answers

1. Why does Cliff travel to Siberia after Clara's death?

Cliff travels to the Batagaika Crater research outpost to continue Clara's work studying ancient pathogens thawed from melting permafrost. He was invited by Clara's project supervisor at the International Fund for Planetary Survival, who gave him his card at Clara's memorial. Cliff tells Maksim he is there to help, but his deeper motivation is grief—a need to stay connected to Clara by completing what she started.

2. What does the dogū figurine represent to Cliff?

The dogū is a Jōmon-era replica Cliff gave Clara as a junior high graduation gift. He told her it could absorb negative energy, evil, and illness. For Cliff, it represents his attempt to protect Clara, his guilt over her death, and his unresolved feelings about their strained relationship. When he throws it into the crater, he is symbolically releasing both the virus and his grief.

3. How does Cliff's relationship with Clara shape his actions?

Cliff and Clara had a complicated relationship. She accused him of not being there for her, and he wanted her to come home and be more present for Yumi. Their disagreement about how to respond to climate change—Clara's urgent activism versus Cliff's more pragmatic acceptance—created distance. After her death, Cliff's journey to Siberia is an attempt to bridge that distance through action.

4. What is the significance of Cliff's final act at the crater?

Cliff walks to the crater's edge, imagines the virus being absorbed into the dogū, tells Clara he loves her, and throws the figurine into the depths. The act is a ritual of release and an offering to his daughter. It also carries symbolic weight: Cliff is attempting to return what the thaw has unburied, to put the harm back in the earth. His return barely able to breathe suggests the cost of this act.

5. How does Cliff connect to the novel's larger narrative?

Cliff's chapter introduces the Arctic plague that shapes every subsequent story in the novel. His discovery of the virus in Annie's remains, the quarantine, and Dave's infection set the stage for the pandemic that transforms the world. Additionally, Clara's missing crystal pendant—which Cliff notes was not recovered with her body—connects to the novel's cosmic thread, revealed in Chapter 14 when readers learn Clara was an alien world builder. Cliff's grief, in retrospect, is grief for something far more extraordinary than he knew.

For more on how Cliff's story connects to the novel's broader questions, see the ending explained page or browse common questions and answers.