The Language of Silence: A Study ofWinerburg, Ohio

Abstract

The present research is an attempt to prove that existing aspect of human life is rather less effectively communicated through words than without them withreference to Anderson'sWinesburg, Ohio. Silence is complementary to verballanguage when what is left unsaid is interpreted, but when what cannot be said withwords is conveyed with silence, it becomes supplementary to speech. So that it is apart of language, which had previously seemed nebulous and vague, or else shamefuland unmentionable. The communicativevalue of silence can be extended to the use ofsilence in art and many other discourses. So that it has become a tool in Arderson'sWinesburg Ohiotoo. Character's ineffability communicates the given predicamentthey are in and no language seems to be ashandy for them as the language of silence.In this study I have tried to develop ways to interpret the expressive silence set againstspeech, the silence that is communicatively a significant tool and silence thatenhances the meaning and effect of verballanguage.