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The Narrator’s Mother
The unnamed narrator’s father is an ornithologist who passed away of natural causes when the narrator was a young girl. The narrator has very fond memories of visiting her father at work—she would go up to the observatory near their house, pretending to bring him lunch but really just wanting to visit, and look through her father’s big binoculars at all of the birds. The narrator’s father was a studious researcher and had many notes, which he kept in the office in their home. Five years after he died, birds “disappeared” from the island. The narrator is relieved that her father never had to live to see birds disappear, as she doesn’t think he would have been ablet to bring himself to find new work—identifying birds was his “one true gift.” The Memory Police ransacked the narrator’s father’s office right after he died, in an attempt to get rid of any and all paperwork referring to birds. Years later, the narrator hides R in a hidden room below her father’s old office.
The Narrator’s Father Quotes in The Memory Police
The The Memory Police quotes below are all either spoken by The Narrator’s Father or refer to The Narrator’s Father. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
The little brown creature flew in a wide circle and then vanished north. I couldn’t recall the name of the species, and I found myself wishing I’d paid more attention when I’d been with my father at the observatory. I tried to hold on to the way it looked in flight or the sound of its chirping or the colors of its feathers, but I knew it was useless. This bird, which should have been intertwined with memories of my father, was already unable to elicit any feeling in me at all. It was nothing more than a simple creature, moving through space as a function of the vertical motion of its wings.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10
Quotes
R let out a little gasp of surprise as I rolled up the carpet and lifted the trapdoor.
“Like a cave floating in the sky,” he murmured.
“It’s a bit tight, I know, but at least you’ll be safe here. No one can see you from outside, and there’s not much chance of them hearing you either.”
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The Narrator’s Father Quotes in The Memory Police
The The Memory Police quotes below are all either spoken by The Narrator’s Father or refer to The Narrator’s Father. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
The little brown creature flew in a wide circle and then vanished north. I couldn’t recall the name of the species, and I found myself wishing I’d paid more attention when I’d been with my father at the observatory. I tried to hold on to the way it looked in flight or the sound of its chirping or the colors of its feathers, but I knew it was useless. This bird, which should have been intertwined with memories of my father, was already unable to elicit any feeling in me at all. It was nothing more than a simple creature, moving through space as a function of the vertical motion of its wings.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10
Quotes
R let out a little gasp of surprise as I rolled up the carpet and lifted the trapdoor.
“Like a cave floating in the sky,” he murmured.
“It’s a bit tight, I know, but at least you’ll be safe here. No one can see you from outside, and there’s not much chance of them hearing you either.”
