Slaughterhouse Five

In Slaughterhouse Five, I don’t think Billy was limited or empowered by language, though not because language was incapable of empowering or limiting him. Rather, I think that due to Billy’s own passive nature, nothing empowered or limited him at all through the book, with the possible exception of when he attempted to get his message on aliens out through the radio. In that one instance, language may have empowered Billy. Due to the time-tripping nature of the novel, it’s difficult to tell what exactly the result of this radio venture was, other than irritating his daughter. Regardless of that, for the most part Billy was content to be a passive spectator of his life and had really no need to empower himself, since his very nature limited him to doing almost nothing. I think that the opposite is true of Vonnegut. I think that at times language is very empowering for him, as he uses it to write a novel and get his message out through clever satire, however I think during other times in the novel he also illustrates its limiting nature. For example, I think that he ends the novel, “poo-tee-weet” because “there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everything is supposed to be quiet after a massacre, and it always is except for the birds. And what do birds say? All there is to say about a massacre” (Vonnegut 19). I think that there is no way to explain a massacre in a way that will get a reader to understand what a massacre is really like so instead he uses what birds say about a massacre and leaves it up to the reader as to what bird’s or anyone can say. In addition, Vonnegut says at the very beginning that his book is a failure, and I think that is because, like how he cannot quite remember war, he cannot quite convey his message through simple words. In Slaughterhouse Five, I think that the only person who really struggles with language in the book is that author because so many of his characters are unbothered by their position that they have no need for language.

Beloved

It seems that the characters as a whole suffer from a lack of
communication. This lack of communication doesn't necessary limit
their power in their individual positions but it does seem to limit
their ability to enjoy living. Denver's lack of communication with
anyone outside of 124 limits her existence to only 124 and as such she
doesn't enjoy hearing stories of the world beyond her. Even in 124 she
rarely expresses her feelings, such as, her fear of her mother and her
intense loneliness, particularly after Paul D banishes the ghost from
the house. Ultimately, when she overcomes this failure to communicate
at the end of the book, she becomes a happier and a more empowered
person. She is allowed to be part of the community and entering it was
easy as asking for help. Paul D and Sethe suffer from a problem of
having so much they don't share that they are forced to carry all of
the burdens that come with constantly remembering their lives. Sethe
lives with constant guilt over her actions even though she believes
she did the right thing. When she is given the opportunity to
literally atone for her actions, by following Beloved's every whim,
she diminishes. In a way she is sharing her feelings, but they are the
wrong ones. She shares her rationale for her acts rather than her
actual feelings over the years and refuses to consider letting Beloved
forgive her by riling her up if she’s calmed down. Ultimately, once
Beloved has left, Sethe is able to share her belief that the best
thing in her life is Beloved when really, as Paul D points out, it’s
herself. This is actually a turning point for both characters. It’s
Sethe’s chance to finally begin living for herself and taking
ownership of herself, and it’s Paul D’s turning point for being honest
with Sethe. Prior to this event Paul D couldn’t tell Sethe about
Beloved or understand her actions in regards to her. This last
described communication is what allowed them to move on and make a
future together. Their communication empowered them just as it did
Denver to lead a happier life.

The Stranger

Meursault's death sentence wasn't so much his inability to communicate, as it was his inability to lie or "tell more than is true." Although there were times he struggled to express what he wanted, first to come to mind is probably, "Fumbling a little with my words and realizing how ridiculous I sounded, I blurted out that it was because of the sun" (Camus 103), they didn't really significantly impact his sentence. Even if he could have found the right words, they wouldn't have helped him. There really isn't a way to explain why he killed the Arab. Even hearing his thoughts in the moment it's unclear, and in the end the trial wasn't really about the murder, but about his character. I suppose that words helped the prosecutor, who Meursault noticed was better than his attorney, but Meursault didn't give his attorney much to work with anyway. The only point that Meursault's words really stood out and may have empowered him, in a way, is at the very end. When he snaps and starts yelling at the Chamberlain,this leads him to a revelation, "I felt ready to live again too. As if that blind rage had wasted me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time in that night alive with signs of stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself---so like a brother really---I felt that i had been happy and that I was happy again" (Camus 123). I'm not sure that the revelation really empowered him though, because he feels insignificant regardless of anything he could say or do. Life goes on, and the world doesn't care about anything so why should he. As such, it's difficult to say he found much in communication at all, even his burst of anger wasn't really about the words he was saying or about communicating his meaning to the Chamberlain. It was just him really thinking aloud, in order to conclude, and understand his feelings about his approaching sentence.