Hello dearest reader, and welcome back! Breaks and holidays are much like double-edged swords in my opinion. Because on one hand, we’re able to rest and take a break from our responsibilities. But on the other hand, we dread the day when reality hits us like a brick, and all of a sudden it’s Monday again. Ugh. I guess that means we should do our best to create a reality we don’t want to escape from. Wouldn’t you agree?
For the past few weeks, our class has been reading Jonathan Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, a novel regarding the traumatic events of 9/11 experienced through the lens of a young nine-year-old boy named Oskar. While I was reading through the novel, I found Oskar to be quite an obnoxious character and quite a brat. Of course this is debatable, but I was able to find at least one diamond in the rough (the rough known as Oskar) – his use of language.
My other classmates have also caught on to this, but I believe it is one of the important themes that can be seen throughout the book. Oskar is very blunt. He will tell the reader exactly how he’s feeling, and after 9/11, how he feels about the Arabs. “There was a lot of stuff that made me panicky [….] Arab people on the subway (even though I’m not racist), Arab people in restaurants and coffee shops and public places (page 36).” It’s not the theme of ‘Oskar disliking Arabs’ that is a reoccurring, but the theme of ‘language’ and how language is used during times of trauma, loss, and fear.
When some idiot on the road cuts you off which almost results in a car crash, what is the immediate response? ‘F**k you!’ What about when the media persuades you that a certain demographic are terrible drivers, and said idiot is of that demographic? ‘F**k you [insert stereotyped demographic] people!’ Now lets take this car example and translate it into an example which involves airplanes and thousands of lost lives, plus the government wanting to take revenge on a whole nation for the actions of the few. Filled with trauma, loss, fear, and revenge, what is the immediate response?
Remember that language can be a very powerful weapon that can be used for progression or destruction. When aiming a weapon, the identification of allies and enemies becomes very important. However, when the heavy fog known as misguidance or ignorance rolls in, it becomes very difficult to distinguish between them. Yesterdays allies can accidentally become todays enemies – all because of a bit of vision obscurity.
Language is powerful. Elements of trauma, loss, and fear may provoke irrational and hurtful language that never would have materialized otherwise, which promotes more pain. Like aiming before firing, think before you speak.