Key Discussion

I think the motif of silence in this novel plays a key part for the patients in Craiglockhart to avoid their feminine side by concealing their memories of the past that has affected them both physically and mentally. By being mute, patients such as Prior are, in some ways, getting more powerful because this allows them to hide their true emotions which makes them more manly as it is what a typical feminine do, this could also be because they might have shown their weak side in battles and want to hide it as the typical men are known to be brave and never give up or run. This also opposes Rivers’ method of revealing their emotions such as fear which gives them more strength as refusing help from Rivers by not speaking at all allows them not to get emasculated and more masculine. Sassoon is another character that has been silenced as he is locked up in a loony bin by soldiers of higher rank to stop him from expressing the war as the way he sees it, which is shown in his declaration. This time the silence makes Sassoon weaker because now that he has been sent to a mental hospital nobody will believe anything he says and therefore unable to show how the war is really going on in his eyes.
The motif of silence is related to the theme of class division as most of the patients in Craiglockhart are soldiers of low rank. Rivers says that it is more likely for the lower class to be silenced because they will have to face more consequences when they express their opinions and thoughts therefore having them ignored or disregarded as a patient unless there is a physical illness. Barker however opposes this concept by having Prior who is an officer of high rank being mute. Prior is a complicated character who is first introduced as a mute however slowly becomes more open as time passes. This may be because he, in a way, has a mind of a lower class although he is in a high rank, you can see this through the way he speaks and at times insults the higher class and this could be the reason for Prior being silenced.