Scattered All Over the Earth

Hiruko is one of the six narrators in Scattered All Over the Earth and in many ways is one of the two protagonists alongside Knut. Hiruko narrates three of the ten chapters, and the plot of the novel is driven by her journey to find another native speaker from her country. Hiruko’s character is largely defined by her relationship to language, with her worrying about losing a part of her identity because of having no one to talk to in her native tongue while also demonstrating great innovation with the homemade language Panska. The role these languages play in her life is a direct result of her refugee status. In the world of the novel, language has the power to determine the course of people’s lives. As an example, Hiruko fears being sent to the US against her will because of her ability to speak English: “‘I’m frightened,’ she said. ‘Twice at Scandinavian immigration offices they said I should move to America because I can speak English. I clearly wrote ‘cannot speak English’ on all the forms I filled out, so I couldn’t figure out how those officials knew’” (42). She hides her knowledge, not wanting to once again be moved as a refugee, this time to the United States.