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Part 1, Chapter 5
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Our Missing Hearts, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Free Speech, Patriotism, and the Corruption of Truth
Surveillance, Fear, and Discrimination
The Power of Art and Imagination
Parental Responsibility, Rights, and Experience
Privilege, Silence, and Complicity
Summary
Analysis
In the present, Bird lies awake and considers what the story of the boy who drew cats might mean. He peers outside at the place where the spraypainted heart used to be, wondering how frightened the graffiti artist felt while they were painting their message. Suddenly, Bird remembers a secret game he and Margaret used to play—he would be the boy who drew cats, hiding in his bedroom’s special crawlspace, and she would pretend to be the monster the cats kill. They played it again and again until he lost interest in it, eventually forgetting it entirely. But now Bird wonders if his mother’s letter leads to their old house.
As Bird contemplates the story’s meaning, he implicitly connects the boy’s painted cats with the painted heart and its anonymous artist. Despite the frightening circumstances, both artists persisted in leaving their mark. Recalling the game he and Margaret used to play is very nostalgic, highlighting Bird’s complex emotions about his mother, for whom he feels both longing and anger.
Themes
Bird secretly visits his childhood home on occasion, as it is not far from his apartment. Bird resents Ethan’s assumption that Bird is perfectly rule-abiding and that he never suspects Bird of disobedience. The house is empty because it is unsellable without Margaret’s signature. Knowing this, Bird wonders if perhaps his mother is hiding out there, and he decides to visit again. Following remembered landmarks from his childhood, Bird makes his way through the old neighborhood, triggering a flashback to the time when he and his father lived there alone, after his mother disappeared.
As he was already nine years old when Margaret left, Bird has many detailed memories of his mother. These have created distance between him and Ethan, who insists on forgetting Margaret entirely. Bird does not find it so easy to leave his former life behind, as he felt the pull of home even before finding Margaret’s letter. In a way, Ethan asks Bird to censor his own memories, a task which Bird finds impossible and is unwilling to complete.
Themes
After Margaret left, some formerly friendly neighbors turned cold, while others became intentionally nosy, always checking in. The police showed up at Bird’s house frequently, alerted to possible disturbances, such as a smoke alarm going off or Bird falling off his bike. It was clear their neighbors were watching them closely, just as the PACT posters said. Bird and Ethan also received threats in their mailbox. Eventually, his father found his library job, and then he and Bird moved into the dorms, where they could get away from such intense scrutiny.
The “disturbances” the neighbors report are so innocuous and minor, that their true aim seems to be letting Ethan know he is being watched for signs of sedition. This memory shows how authoritarian governments weaponize citizen surveillance, motivating neighbors to watch one another for signs of disobedience, creating and depending upon a culture of fear. Margaret’s departure and Ethan’s denouncement of her un-American ideologies are not enough to remove this communal scrutiny, demonstrating how doubted loyalty is contagious, making friends and neighbors into enemies.
Themes
In the present, Bird enters the backyard of his childhood home, and a flood of memories overwhelms him. Ethan and Margaret had kept a garden with lush flowers and vegetables. Now, the weeds are overgrown, reminding him of the castle in Sleeping Beauty. He recalls how his parents kept a key hidden in the garden to avoid getting locked out. Margaret showed him the hiding place in the form of a story: “Once upon a time, there was a boy who found a golden key.” Remembering the ways she tried to make his world more fantastical sparks hope in Bird as he finds the hidden key and enters the house.
More fairytale imagery appears in Bird’s memories of his childhood, romanticizing his past life. Though his mother’s abandonment has hardened him in some ways, Bird still hopes deep down for a triumphant reunion. Following the letter to this house feels like the kind of quest Margaret would have loved, and it comforts him to think he is entering one of the fantastical worlds she used to describe.
Themes
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Walking through the abandoned house reminds Bird again of Sleeping Beauty’s castle, where everything is frozen in time. He sees signs of his old life everywhere, despite the emptiness. In his old bedroom, Bird peers into the crawlspace cubby in his closet: that special place where he used to hide while playing with Margaret. Just when he is about to give up on finding anything, he discovers a card with the word “DUCHESS” written on it, along with a New York City address. Bird recognizes his mother’s handwriting.
Continuing with the fairytale imagery, Bird’s comparison of his old house to the castle in Sleeping Beauty emphasizes how he has left parts of his childhood behind, though he is still in the middle of his coming-of-age journey. The whimsical name “Duchess” as well as the clue’s hiding spot seems to confirm that Bird is on a kind of fairytale quest to find his mother.
Themes
