Speechless

"Does it break my heart, of course, every moment of every day, into more pieces than my heart was made of, I never thought of myself as quiet, much less silent, I never thought about things at all, everything changed, the distance that wedged itself between me and my happiness wasn't the world, it wasn't the bombs burning buildings, it was me, my thinking..." (16)

This is an artist's representation of the Greek mythological woman Cassandra. She's most well known for her part in the Shakespeare play Troilus and Cressida, but the story is similar in Greek mythology. Basically Cassandra's role in the play is to always speak the truth (because she's a seer), but to never be listened to. It may be a bit of a stretch, but this idea really reminded me of Oskar's grandfather, who loses his ability to speak. While their ailments are obviously different, I feel like Oskar's grandfather and Cassandra would have felt similarly about their conditions. In the Shakespearean play everyone thinks that Cassandra is a madwoman and they learn to automatically dismiss anything she says without a second thought. Eventually it gets to the point that people really don't listen to her at all, no matter what she's saying. Not being listened to and not being able to speak are, in my opinion, very similar problems. They both have the effect of limiting your ability to impact the world around you verbally.

I feel that this statue really expresses what Cassandra's going through (and thus some of what Oskar's grandfather is going through). It's not an expression of agony or anger. The artist describes her as having a 'farseeing' expression. I feel that anyone who has the communication problems that she and the grandfather have would often seem to be a 'farseeing' person, because they have been rejected from the to-and-fro of regular conversation. They don't get to talk to people and make quick decisions about how to respond. THey don't get to communicate without deep thought first. In some ways they are trapped in their own minds, because they cannot easily put the thoughts they're having out there into the world for others to interpret.

The two characters are even more similar when you consider that some interpretations say that Cassandra really can't talk about whatever she wants to. Everything she says has to be a prophecy and it has to be true, so she can't really talk about the things she likes and enjoys. She's limited to her prophecies. In a similar way, Oskar's grandfather is limited by not being able to speak at all. He doesn't have the advantages of tone-of-voice, sarcasm, or even speed. Cassandra has these things, but nobody is willing to listen to her, so they become null and void. Oskar's grandfather is limited to what he can write down (and he seems to choose what to write based on how short and simple he can make the sentence), and when he finishes with the day's book he's limited to what he's written down previously.