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Part 3, Chapter 5: March 1907
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Dictionary of Lost Words, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Language and Change
Bias, Sexism, and Classism
Identity, Community, and Womanhood
Activism
Grief, Pain, and Legacy
Summary
Analysis
Esme ruminates on how the definitions distort over time, just as she is gradually forgetting her daughter. She discovers the word lie-child has been subsumed by love-child in the Dictionary—and she thinks that she loves Her, not Bill. Meanwhile, Da writes to Ditte about Esme’s obvious depression. Ditte arranges for Esme to stay at a Shropshire cottage with Lizzie for a month to grieve, making her excuses to Dr. Murray. A neighbor, Mr. Lloyd, welcomes Lizzie and Esme to the cottage, which is well-stocked with food. Lizzie readily takes charge of the house and Esme, and she asks Mr. Lloyd’s son Tommy about walking trails.
Back at the Scriptorium, Esme is stuck in the lingering effects of grief, which make every word she encounters feel as temporary as her memories of Her. The experience of giving up her child has untethered Esme’s sense of identity—she does not know whether she is a mother or how to define her relationship with her child. Fortunately, Da and Ditte step in as Esme’s community to arrange some time away to recover. Here, the novel shows how grief leaves marks on a person’s life which are not immediately—if ever—healed. Lizzie is eager to help Esme recover, emphasizing the strength of their bond.
Themes
It saddens Esme to think of the life Lizzie might have lived if she had more choices. Her friend seems prematurely old. Lizzie forces Esme to walk with her through the hilly countryside and tears her skirt. The next day, they borrow trousers from the cottage’s closet. The exercise energizes Lizzie. She invites Mrs. Lloyd in for tea every afternoon, and Esme realizes she has never observed Lizzie with a friend. Esme understands that she might have harmed herself if her friends and family had left her alone. Slowly, the walking gets easier. Esme goes out alone, agreeing with Lizzie that the pain of movement feels like achievement.
Esme feels burdened not only by her own depression, but also by the thought of other women (like Lizzie) who have had their choices taken from them. But the countryside invigorates Lizzie and gifts her a new friend—a rarity, since she lives her life in service to the Murrays. Esme gradually heals from the loss of her daughter, and she knows that her community saved her.
Themes
The month ends. Mrs. Lloyd bids farewell to Lizzie, calling her bostin. Esme asks about this unknown word, filling out her first slip in ages. Lizzie says bostin means “lovely,” and mairt means “friend.” Esme intends to add the slip to her trunk. She will miss the countryside’s rhythm, which has brought her peace. Esme feels broken but able to carry on. On their last day, the friends watch the sunset. Lizzie feels God has noticed her for the first time. Esme asks if God will forgive her, but she is really asking if Lizzie will forgive her. She feels a wave of relief for the first time since giving birth. Lizzie says it is not God’s place to forgive Esme—Esme must forgive herself.
Esme’s curiosity about words returns, signifying that she is recovering her sense of self. Lizzie’s friendship with Mrs. Lloyd demonstrates the powerful bonds that can form between women, however brief their acquaintance. Esme’s loss leaves a permanent mark on her life, but she is able to carry that loss with her into the future. Here, Lizzie (who usually advises Esme to obey social niceties and remember her place) surprisingly encourages Esme to value her own opinion of herself above all others, suggesting that Lizzie, too, is becoming fed up with the constant pressure to please others.
Themes
