Ripley most likely she has some form of PTSD, and having gone through her ordeal, you have to think – how do you continue with a normal life? Knowing that there are creatures like that out there? What could she do? Surely if the aliens do come into contact with the colonists it is certain that they would kill them, and with their presence revealed, Weyland Yutani would most likely attempt to bring one back as a sample.

This means they have to be exterminated.

But how could she exterminate them? She doesn’t have the ability, man or firepower to do so. She’s tortured by both her past and the future, her memories and potential outcomes, fear wrapped in a compulsion to do the right thing. All of this complexity, with such high stakes, in one simple scene.

“You throw me at the wolves and now you ask for my help?”

Ripley’s worst fears have been realized – lost contact with the colony. Now they want her to go back.

We get an insight here regarding what happened to Ripley post the investigation. She was clearly fired from her job and is now working as a powerloader most probably low end, blue collar work. Ripley isn’t living - no friends, family, she’s merely existing. Ironically, Ripley’s existence is much like that of the alien she encountered on LV426, a day to day existence without meaning or purpose. She is safe, but her life will never be the same. What happened on the Nostromo took something out of her.

“You wake up every night, sheets soaked in sweat.”

This shows that although Ripley escaped the terrors of LV426, part of her is still there, the terror of those creatures existing in the same universe still scratching at the recesses of her mind. How do you exist, knowing that those things are out there? Ripley it seems, would rather live in the shadow of fear, than face it head on. A powerful message throughout the movie, and one that’s worth repeating: You can exist while being gripped by your fears, but to truly live, you must face them.

At this moment in time though, Ripley’s fear weighs heavy. Burke tries to assuage Ripley’s concerns with a line which proves to be prophetic:

“They’re very tough hombres. They’re packing State of the art firepower, there’s nothing they can’t handle.”

This is a key statement, which on the surface seems to be positive, but when examined, a major flaw can be found, one which is a prevalent theme throughout: the folly of humanity – putting too much faith into technology.

They’re tough, they have firepower, they can handle anything. Maybe they have the brawn, and the technology, but without the ingenuity and the intelligence to adapt, they are doomed.

Ripley rejects Burke, and opts to continue her tortured existence.

After another bout of night terrors, Ripley relents, opting to face her fears and annihilate them:

“...not to study, not to bring back, but to wipe them out.”

The Nostromo

On the surface, this scene shows the might of the military, with their giant ships and their powerful weaponry. However, beneath that, we see the flaw of humanity – soldiers in sleep pods – naked, unprotected, slow to react, like babies in a crib. All of this technology surrounds them, but beneath this sound and fury, they are delicate and vulnerable. Essentially, bags of meat.