Libraries Symbol Analysis

Libraries symbolize the right to free speech, thought, and access to information, all of which are threatened by PACT in Ng’s imagined version of America. Although they are a primary target for PACT censorship, libraries are not passive victims in the world of the novel. Librarians are central to the anti-PACT movement, sharing information about re-placed children in an effort to comfort, if not reunite, their families. In this same vein, libraries provide physical refuges for both Margaret and Sadie while they are hiding out from the authorities. Despite the personal risks of such activities, the novel’s librarians understand their jobs are primarily about “Information. Passing it on. Helping people find what they need,” regardless of what that information will be used for. In this way, the novel portrays libraries as uniquely suited for defending the right to free speech, thought, and access to information against censorship attacks.

Significantly, Bird does not enter Cambridge’s public library until he is searching for information he cannot find on the internet—about his mother, Margaret, and the cat story she used to tell him. With this small detail, the novel shows how information consumption is monitored and how rare it is for people to go out of their way to research outside of pre-approved channels. The library itself is empty of people, its shelves full of gaps where books labeled “un-American” have been removed. Some library collections, like the university library where Ethan works, house more controversial materials than the public library, but they require special permissions to access those materials. Here, the novel demonstrates how censorship effectively removes knowledge from the public consciousness by limiting access to that knowledge or else destroying it outright.