I find it
absolutely thrilling when literary theory and a piece of contemporary
literature of my own choosing come together to prove a point. Ferdinand De Saussure states in Course in General Linguistics: “Whereas
speech is heterogeneous, language, as defined, is homogeneous. It is a system of signs in which the only
essential thing is the union of meaning and sound-images, and in which both
parts of the sign are psychological” (De Saussure 850). The character of Nick Andros in Stephen
King’s The Stand is a deaf-mute who
embodies the philosophy that language performs as a tool capable of bringing
all human beings together through writing, signs that express ideas, and that the
consideration mischaracterizing language as simply a “naming process” which
belittles the power of communication to be found in both spoken and written
word.
King’s
character of Nick Andros finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time as
he is beaten up by small town thugs who consider him weak because he can
neither hear nor speak. The fact that
the United States of America is suffering from a plague which is the symptom of
an apocalypse to come is second to the fact that Nick must find alternate means
to communicate with those around him. De
Saussure states that “language is a storehouse of sound-images and writing is
the tangible form of those images” (De Saussure 850). When Nick was a child, he had very little
communication with the outside world, and only understood through the general
persistence of his mother that his name was “Nicholas Andros” after her
repeated attempts to assist Nick in associating himself with her words written
on paper. Nick communicates in his
written narrative that he finds solace in the term “incommunicado” as he had
been unable to communicate through means determined normal for all of his
life. He “lived in a silent world. Writing was code. Speech was the moving of lips, the rise and
fall of teeth, the dance of the tongue.
His mother taught him to read lips, and had taught him how to write his
name in struggling, sprawling letters” (King 133). While Nick can read lips, he relies on
written word to connect with other human beings in a way that he cannot
vocally.
Considering
language as simply a tool which names objects disparages the effects that
language has on society. While language
is much more than simply a means of placing a name to an object, this is a
notion that Nick mourned the lack of the most as a deaf/mute child. In The
Stand, King writes:
The worst part of being
a deaf-mute as not living in the silent movie world; the worst part was not
knowing the names of things. He had not really begun
to understand the concept of naming until he was four. He had
not known that you called the tall green things trees until he was six. He
wanted to know, but no one had thought to tell him and he had no way to ask: he was
INCOMMUNICADO (133).
Instead of characterizing the ordinary person who refuses to
look no further at language then its naming properties, Nick lived in a silent
world of no expression. The discovery that there were names for the objects he
encountered in his life was the beginning of his ability to communicate. De Saussure further contends that “the linguistic
unit is a double entity, one formed by the associating of two terms” (De
Saussure 852). For Nick, the association
previously mentioned of his name on a sheet of paper and hands on his chest
unite the two terms, “Nicholas Andros” and “you”.
De Saussure
theorizes that “the linguistic sign unites, not a thing and a name, but a
concept and a sound-image…the sound image is sensory” (De Saussure
852-853). Nick Andros cannot hear,
however he uses signs to communicate feelings and senses. While much of the rhythm of language comes
from pleasurable or frightening sounds, Nick’s hand gestures and facial
expressions perform roughly the same action.
In the small town in Arkansas where Nick is attacked, he volunteers to
help out the sheriff of the area who falls ill.
Although Nick has a tablet where he writes notes to the sheriff, writing
alone sometimes cannot portray his angst.
When asked how the prisoners being kept overnight in the cell behaved,
“Nick opened and closed his mouth several times in a mime jabbering. Looking furious. Made banging gestures on invisible bars. The sheriff threw back his head and laughed”
(King 137). Much as the sound of
language with its rhythm and musicality impart sensory perception, Nick has
transformed his gestures to substitute for ordinary language while conveying
feelings and ideas in a manner easily understood by others. He does not sign simply tangible objects but
concepts as well.
Deaf-mute
character Nick Andros in Stephen King’s The
Stand gives a human face to Ferdinand de Saussure’s theories expressed in Course in General Linguistics. Andros uses written language as his tool to
connect with other humans, utilizing language initially as naming process to
bridge the gap created by his own non-existent ability to make sounds or hear
them. He later proves that written
language can be as powerful as spoken dialogue when the power of speech and
hearing are lacking. King utilizes Nick
as a man using language as much more than a simple naming process but rather a means
of expressing sensation.
Works Cited
De Saussure, Ferdinand. "Course in General
Linguistics." Leitch, Vincent B. Gen. Ed. The Norton Anthology of
Literary Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 850-866.
Print.
King, Stephen. The Stand. New York: Penguin
Books, 1990. Print.
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