Where'd You Go, Bernadette

“I’m scanning our passports, where you’ll find our birthdates, exact spelling of names, and all that other good stuff. I’ve thrown in driver’s licenses and SS numbers just to be safe. You’ll see on Bee’s passport that her given name is Balakrishna Branch. (Let’s just say I was under a lot of stress, and it seemed like a good idea at the time.) I realize her plane ticket has to read “Balakrishna.” But when it comes to the boat, please move heaven and earth to make sure the divine child is listed as ‘Bee.’”

This passage come from one of Bernadette’s emails to Manjula while planning the trip to Antarctica. It indicates how casually Bernadette has given up her family’s information to a stranger on the Internet, in the name of digital convenience. Elgin later cites this action as evidence of Bernadette’s insanity, but it is little different from the relationship with technology his own work at Microsoft intends to create, as other characters will point out. The passage hints at the painful circumstances in which Bernadette came to name her daughter, and the connection between the name she chose and her own idea of Bee as a “divine child” entrusted to her. (The prefix “bala” means “divine child.”) It also demonstrates how attentive Bernadette still is to Bee, even during her most withdrawn phase.

“The last surgery was when I was five. I know I’m supposed to be so smart, but guess what? I don’t remember any of it! And double-guess what? I’m totally fine now, and have been for nine and a half years. Just take a timeout and ponder that. For two-thirds of my life I’ve been totally normal.”

This passage appears immediately after the letter from Elgin writes to an administrator at Choate describing the early struggles Bee experienced because of her heart defect. Elgin’s letter describes this as the “essential fact” about Bee, a characterization Bee strongly rejects. The letter also suggests the degree to which Elgin’s view of his family is tinged by anxiety.