The First

Communication:
a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior ~Merriam-Webster's Dictionary

How is a person’s ability to communicate vital to their well-being? (Had to make my BIG question the "LARGEST" font)

I started thinking about communication in general last year as I joined Speech and Debate. Hearing that most people's greatest fear is public speaking shocked me, seeing as I compete in oratory (speech delivery). I remember asking my coach why he thought I enjoyed something like public speaking and he responded saying, “There is something very empowering about commanding the attention of a room with your ideas.”

I soon after, started to notice a fear of speaking in many people around me--classmates, my parents, even my teachers. In noticing this fear, I also began to notice that these people that fear verbal communication almost always have another way to communicate what they feel. For example, one of my closest friends is an artist in more ways than one. She may not always verbalize her strong opinions or imagination, but when I see one of her pictures, it is as if I am seeing her soul-- her insecurities, and passions, and her voice. Another one of my friends can never and will never show her frustration or anger towards another verbally, but later shares these feelings through a novel-length letter. It is as if she has the words, but speaking them is just not enough.

My Question in Literature:

As I read Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, this idea fascinated me even more. The style in which Woolf chooses to write shines light on this idea of a lack of communication. The novel does not tell the story from one person’s perspective, but instead explores it from multiple angles. These characters appear one way to the rest of the characters—usually predictable and even insignificant. However, when the story switches viewpoints, the reader finds that all of the characters have a deep and profound inner struggle.

Communication plays into this because you can almost sense the characters’ frustrations as they are not able to show the world how they really feel. Lilly, seen as meek and unimportant communicates through her paintings and conceals them from the world. I would guess that she fears communication with others because she fears revealing the deeply profound person that she is. Revealing herself to the people around her could mean hurt, rejection, and ultimately loneliness.

I admittedly did not see this connection in Ayn Rand’s Anthem until later, but now I see that communication could very well be the key to breaking though the oppressive society in the novel. The passion is ultimately stirred up in the protagonist as her begins to finally find a way to communicate his ideas; through writing. Then, his passion is ignited as he begins to verbally communicate which leads to love and desire and all of the other components necessary to be a human at all.