The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

U Ba knows from the start that the father whom Julia is seeking is deceased. Why does he keep her waiting for almost a week, telling their father’s life story rather than simply breaking the news?

While Julia’s mother is significant to the narrative, Jan-Philipp Sendker rarely refers to her by name; virtually all the other women in the novel are referred to by name. The reader only knows Julia’s mother’s name because she signs a note to Julia as “Judith” (25). Why does Sendker refer to her as “Julia’s mother” rather than by name? Why does she sign her personal note as “Judith” rather than “Mother”?

Consider Tin and Mi Mi’s bond. Had Tin established himself as an American attorney earlier and remained unmarried, do you think he would have sent for Mi Mi? Why hadn’t Tin done exactly this once he became wealthy? Do you think Mi Mi would have left Kalaw to join him in the United States?

There are many coincidental happenings that lead Tin to the heights of greatness. Are these events uncanny strokes of luck or some spiritual power at play? If so, then was Tin’s father’s accidental death and Tin’s mother’s abandonment also some sort of divine intervention? Why do you think such events and Tin’s ability to hear heartbeats are never fully explained?

Is it a coincidence that the novel’s well-off characters—U May’s merchant father, Tin’s businessman uncle U Saw, Julia’s maternal grandparents, and British residents—all end up on the fearful side of the thematic struggle between fear and love, or is Sendker making a statement about the corrosive impact of wealth?

When Tin hears the heartbeat of an unhatched chick, Mi Mi says his ears must be good—to which he responds that he may not be hearing with his ears. What is Tin implying with this comment? How does Sendker use Tin’s ability to explore certain truths about humans?

Compare and contrast any two maternal or paternal figures to Tin.

U Ba encourages Julia to read a biography of Burma that was written in 1902. When Julia notes that the book is not current, U Ba says that the heart of a people does not change. In the 21st Century, Kalaw is now a city of around 180,000 people. Could a love story like Tin and Mi Mi’s happen in a place like New York City? What makes their love story so special?