Just Say Something?

Shaking their heads back in forth, my parents have manipulation and guilt trips down to a science. Sometimes I wish they would just yell and scream at everything I did wrong, but never have I heard this, no, that would be too simple. My parents say three words and silence fills in all the detail. “We are disappointed,” they begin and end with and from there I can hear the birds outside, the neighbor’s dog barking, but not anything more from them. This technique which many parents use can be millions of times worse than if they just had yelled. “Silence speaks volumes.” It is a phrase I am sure many are familiar with, but Pierre Macherey looks deeper into this literary technique. While personally, I have a hard time recognizing this in a novel or any form of written work, I cannot help but let my mind imagine all the speeches that have built our history. Sometimes silence can be more powerful than any words, any phrases, or gestures. It allows the audience to look for reason, to even look beyond what has initially been said. It looks for interpretation and answers “the secret [that will be] explained,” perhaps even a “revelation” (23).

I am embarrassed to say that my background on knowledge of historical speeches would make my high school history teachers cringe. Nevertheless, there is one example that immediately comes to mind and helps me understand exactly the power of this silence. Walt Disney World opened in October of 1971. The media buzz was immense and the dedication speech had to be nothing shy of the famed words Walt read with the opening of Disneyland only sixteen years earlier. However, this speech would be quite different because it was no longer Walt reading it, but rather his brother Roy. As much as I wish I could say I was there, the story itself is nothing more than a cast member’s tale these days, but nevertheless is looked with sparkling eyes and a smile across one’s face. Roy stood at the front of Main Street U.S.A. among press and those that had helped in the project. Yes, the kingdom that was once imagined now stood complete, but there was an obvious hesitation in Roy’s opening. Before anyone could figure out quite what was going on, Roy disappeared to only appear with Mickey at his side. He looked out at the crowd and announced that if Walt could not be there, he would have to get the next best thing to stand in his place. It was that easy. There did not have to be any more words (although the original dedication was eventually read), because everyone understood the importance of that moment in Disney history without the mumbling and scrambling to fill the void of silence that can ruin the greatest moments.

Silence is a powerful thing, there is no questioning there, but when it can bring together people in remembrance, history, and even a sense of magic such as that of Disney World that October day – why do we get so concerned with always trying to have something to say?

“On my honor I have not witnessed nor received any unauthorized assistance on this work.”