To Speak, Or Not To Speak: That Is The Question

Let me preface this blog post by saying that “Hush” is my all-time favorite Buffy episode. I love its spookiness, and the beautiful, eerie fairy-tale feel. For me, this episode epitomizes what I love most about the gothic: it’s a little bit familiar, a little bit scary, and a little bit “uncanny” as Alex described. As someone who talks far more than she should, I also appreciate an episode that speaks to the significance of language in our culture. As Kromer states in her article, “language structures reality.” We often use language as our primary method for asserting our opinions and beliefs.

As we see in this episode, interactions between people become less superficial when we are forced to use our bodies instead of our minds. I believe our personal experiences shape our understanding of the world. Kromer suggests that language is essential for understanding our surroundings, and without it we confront “the inability to shape experiences effectively.” I think this episode supports the idea that the body can communicates in ways that are independent and untainted by the mind. Although our minds can perceive our surroundings, shape our internal experiences, and analyze them in ways that the body cannot; the body simply exists, producing sincere communication.

However, silence can also have its drawbacks. In her article Kromer also states that the episode “taps into common childhood fears through its portrayal of The Gentlemen.” In their blog posts, both Lauren and Alex emphasized how The Gentlemen represent distorted adult qualities of refinement with their appearance, grace, and polite manners. Kromer also emphasizes how these qualities “tap into childhood fears of adults and old age, medicine, surgery, and the unwanted penetration of one’s body.” As children, we shy away from sickness, old people, and hospitals because we associate all of these things with pain and vulnerability. When you become sick, you no longer have control over your body, you feel pain, and must rely on adults to take care of you and fix you. You are weak and vulnerable, just as the people of Sunnydale are vulnerable to the cruelty and violation of The Gentlemen.

Since children don’t have the physical strength to resist adult influence, language is of paramount importance. When you are a child without language, you are unable to assert yourself. You, quite literally, have no voice. When Buffy takes back her voice from The Gentleman, she is reclaiming her authority and the right to express her thoughts and desires.

Kromer, Kelly. "Silence as Symptom: A Psychoanalytic Reading of "Hush". Nineteen: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies. 07 Mar. 2007. Web. 03 Oct. 2011.