“You have scored your name into my shoulders, referencing me with your mark. The pads of your fingers have become printing blocks, you tap a message on to my skin, tap meaning into my body. Your morse code interferes with my heart beat.” (89)
In this passage the narrator is referencing the profound affect that Louise has upon them.
The letter M is repeated frequently in this passage. Especially in the first sentence with words like name, my, me, and mark the soft M begins to surround this passage. The letter M is used to create a soft and gentle foundation to support these words of love that the narrator has for Louise.
Outside of the text the letter M has many comforting connotations. It is the majority of the word “mom and mama”. Mothers are seen by our society as the ultimate form of comfort and therefore their name immediately creates comfort. In the prayer word “Om” the M is always held out until the vibrations fade into the air. Om is believed to be the first syllable/sound that was uttered by a living being in this world in Hinduism. To be in a room full of people praying and saying Om is to be blanketed and supported by a simple vibration.
These connotations of the letter M help to support the narrator’s easily identified care and comfort in Louise. The narrator describes how Louise has, “tap(ped) meaning into my body” and “interfere(d) with my heart beat.” The narrator has acknowledged head-on that their love for Louise and the love she has for them has affected them. This affect is received with open arms, which is shown by the constant use of M. The sound of the words out loud deepens the softness that the narrator feels towards Louise.
The detail of this close reading is amazing! I love the emphasis on the individual “m” sound as a foundation for the analysis since individual sounds are the most basic building blocks of any sentence—we’re looking at the passage on a structural level and its payoff is that we get to see what the sounds might be evoking for us emotionally even without us realizing. This passage was really analyzed like a piece of poetry and I think it paid off, as the words are trying to evoke a feeling just as much as they are trying to communicate their individual meanings (messages that, as you point out, ultimately work in tandem!)