ENGL 4310

So, I've noticed a trend (yes, another one). In "He," "The Life you Save..." and "The Displaced Person," we see three instances of the ways in which language is the dividing factor between both innocence and guilt and also stupidity and intelligence. In “He,” it is continually mentioned how He doesn’t have enough “sense” for this or that. Also, the preacher sates, in reference to Him, “the innocent walk with God” (50). He is portrayed as both innocent and stupid most likely because He can’t communicate. I make this assumption based on the fact that He has the ability to do things the other children can’t do, so obviously the “stupid” and “innocent” titles have not been given to him based on his physical disabilities.

Similarly, in “The Life You Save May be Your Own,” Lucynell is depicted as an innocent child, regardless of the fact that she is nearly thirty years old. She is referred to as “an angel of Gawd” (181), which obviously implies innocence. Again, she doesn’t seem to have a severe physical disability, other than her occasional “fits”, and her mother tells us that she can “sweep the floor, cook, wash, feed the chickens, and hoe” (176). However, both her mother and Mr. Shiftlet treat her as if she were a pawn, and never even attempt to explain to her what is going on, thereby making the assumption that she is intellectually inferior to themselves. I think part of the reason for this is that Lucynell can’t vocalize any kind of response, and so they are left assuming she does not understand.

In “The Displaced Person,” Mr. Guizac is also “Othered” based on the fact that he does not speak the same language as those around him. He is viewed by Mrs. Shortley as inferior, and part of this is because he does not speak the same language as her. She claims that the family “can’t talk” (287), even though the obviously can, and goes on to question whether or not they “know what color even is?” (287). The ability to see and recognize color and the ability to speak are not really even related, but Mrs. Shortley links the two in order to demonstrate the fact that she views them as inferior and stupid. The difference between the Guizacs and the other two characters, however, is that they are NOT viewed as innocent. Mrs. Shortley is convinced that the family will bring all sorts of horrors from their own country onto the farm. I think the reason for this may be that, although they do not speak her language, they have a language of their own which she can not understand and therefore assumes that they are inherently evil.

I would also like to point out that, in all three stories, the fact that these characters are unable to effectively communicate makes the people around them uncomfortable and ultimately causes their families, or in the case of the Guizacs, Mrs. McIntyre, attempt to get rid of them by pawning them off onto someone else. I'm fascinated by the sense of awkwardness or discomfort people get when faced with someone with whom they cannot communicate through a common spoken language.