As the physical expression of life, the heartbeat represents passion. The quickening of a heartbeat conveys a sense of excitement that exudes desire and communicates a message to the listener. Throughout the novel, Ridge and Sydney listen to each other’s heartbeat as a means of connection and as a symbol of their passionate love. As a person who is deaf, Ridge uses Sydney’s heartbeat to help him feel Sydney singing as they write music together. To do this, he lays his head against Sydney’s chest, creating a physical intimacy between them. Before they kiss for the first time, he imagines her breath sounds “like how a heartbeat feels,” which conveys the passion that radiates between them (190).

Later, when Ridge tries to convince Sydney to abandon her plans for independent living and begin a relationship, he forces her to “relax against his chest, finding the rhythm of his heartbeat” and shares with her the significance of his heartbeat as the only sound in his silent world (360). In sharing the effect she had on his heart the first time he saw her, Ridge expresses the undeniable passion between them that continues to draw them together. He admits that his heartbeat taught him “who my heart craves more,” which allows Sydney to finally accept Ridge’s declaration of his love for her over

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