Words Not Spoken
"Literature is born out of a desire to be truthful– not to hide anything and not to present oneself as somebody else. Yet when you write there are certain obligations, what I call laws of form. You cannot tell everything."
-- Czeslaw Milosz
An hour before I started writing this post, I finished a book called 'Butter' by Asako Yuzuki. The book had a lot of hype, and I was very excited to read it. But it was a disappointment. The storyline was okay, the concepts and writing were good, but all of this was watered down by the book's length. By the end, I was exhausted, and I just didn't care about the plot or the characters.
This got me thinking about a midnight conversation I had with my friend ATJ. She is a loyal spitfire of a person who gets a kick out of always speaking her mind. ATJ closed her eyes, sighed deeply and said, "It is sad when things go unsaid."
Well, I'm not sure about that. Maybe a decade ago, when I was in school, I attended a writing workshop. I learned a strategy, often called 'Show, Not Tell'. It is better to show the readers what the character is going through instead of telling. It makes the scenario more believable. Real life doesn't come with narration. For example, if I wanted to tell my readers that my character is anxious, I'd say something like- 'The perspiration on her palms made the doorknob two degrees colder than it actually was. As the sound of her racing heart muffled her thoughts, she twisted the doorknob, bracing herself for what awaited on the other side."
I think life is like that. If you notice carefully, some people push on to others the narrative they want told about them. All of us do want a certain story told about us, we all want to be perceived a certain way. But I guess the strategy I prefer is 'Show, Not Tell'.
I believe a lot of the story is read between the lines. I was reading a book called 'Surrounded by Idiots'. One concept from the book really stuck with me- 'Communication happens on the listener's terms.' You have to let the audience determine what the story means to them.
George and Winnie are two people who studied together in school. They spent a lot of time in each other's presence as two people do when they have classes together.
George and Winnie might be real, or they might be fictional. George and Winnie might have a completely different view of their relationship from the one I chose to portray. George and Winnie might have happy ending- it might involve each other, or it might involve other characters. One of them could die. Both of them could die. But let us not dwell on the details of whatever happens in their stories.
Dearest George,
I never got to tell you everything I wished to tell you. You might never get this letter, but the truth doesn't exist depending on our ability to perceive it.
There's a poem I love by Carol Ann Duffy called 'Havisham'. It is about the bride from 'Great Expectations' who gets left at the altar on her wedding day. The whole narration of the experience is held within two words in the poem. Two words described everything the jilted bride experienced- "Love's hate."
Maybe the state I am in must be called 'Love's Longing'. I'll accept it if I have to be Havisham in this story as long as you have a part. I'll be Juliet in one life, Lady Macbeth in another, and if I am lucky, I'll be Monica Geller in one. But I hope you will always have a part.
A romantic narrative with you and me, in this life, will only be alive as a tangent, like Schrondinger's cat. You might disagree, but imagining possibilities feels better to me than regretting realities.
Tales of love and woe can be read everywhere, not just in words that appear deceptively concrete. If you look for truth in letters, words, and kisses, words unsaid will seem like a tragedy. You'll hear my truth in every missed call from me, in every seat that I saved for you, and in every glance in every room we were ever in.
I don't intend to dilute something precious with words that do no justice to what it is that I want to say. But tell me honestly, do the words not echo in your bones when I come to mind, whether I uttered them or not?
Yours truly,
Winnie
If ATJ and I had the same conversation a few years ago, I might have agreed with her. After all, "Between what is said and not meant, and what is meant and not said, most of love is lost."- Khalil Gibran.
I thought it was sad and maybe even stupid after watching countless movies and books written about crops that miscommunication reaps. But now, even as a lover of words, I can admire the beauty behind the lack of it. Now, I understand that stories don't need a happy ending to be beautiful.
I'm not saying verbalising one's feelings is trivial. But sometimes, we don't need to overdo it like that book, 'Butter'. I rest my case with a six-word story which has been on my mind for longer than any 450-page novel has-
'For Sale: Baby Shoes, never worn.'
A lot can be said without being said.
