Our Missing Hearts

Bird’s linguist father, Ethan, keeps his dictionaries throughout the Crisis and life under PACT (“Preserving American Culture and Traditions”), despite society’s suspicion of books. For Ethan, language and words are fundamental to understanding human connection. Thus, his collection of dictionaries is an important reminder that preservation of language is also the preservation of people. This is reflected in Margaret’s own loss of Cantonese; because her parents wanted her to be seen as American, they didn’t share their native language with her. In this case, the embrace of one language becomes the erasure of another. However, Ethan’s dictionaries prove this erasure unnecessary, as people can and should celebrate all languages. The protection and upkeep of the dictionaries also imply that he still very much loves Margaret. Early in their courtship, the couple entertained each other by reading from the dictionaries and playing with words. Dictionaries are therefore both a form of connection between humans and language, and humans and humans.