# Mutes in Literature



## Morkonan (Sep 28, 2013)

I'm looking for good examples of how authors have successfully handled mutes in regards to dialogue with a third-person point-of-view. So, that means there is no use of "Inner Voice" possible and, as an addition, no writing or sign language aside from some basic gestures is possible. I have a mute character I'm working with and would like to bounce some ideas off some deft authors by examining their work.

So, suggestions?

Yes, it's difficult, but not impossible. I can manage it through observations of the protagonist and their interactions with this character. However, I'm looking for that right "It" factor in these interchanges. I want a very strong and appealing mute character to emerge from these interactions and the protagonist's own commentary and introspection.


----------



## egpenny (Oct 2, 2013)

Go online and enter  *Mutes in literature*. there's several sites to chose from.


----------



## Morkonan (Oct 8, 2013)

egpenny said:


> Go online and enter  *Mutes in literature*. there's several sites to chose from.



What I'm looking for are the opinions of forum members regarding mute characters that they've read about. I already did a "Google It."


----------



## Blique (Jan 20, 2014)

My opinions probably won't be of much use, but I'd like to heard more from others about this topic as well.

I know of a few instances with mute characters. One character I know didn't communicate much, but she put a mix of drawings and writing on paper when she did.

Another character I know is Sandman, from the Rise of the Guardians movie. He originally appears in a children's book, but I don't know if they gave any special attention to his muteness there. I'm mentioning him because it's an interesting idea to convey ideas solely through imagery.

The last character I know is a dullahan (headless horseman) named Celty, who can see and hear, but not speak. She's from the light novel "Durarara". However, the setting is modern day, so she communicates through typing on her computer or phone.

As mentioned, I don't know many who fit what you're looking for. I'm working on a mute character myself, and I'm stuck too. She knows sign language, but few people around her understand it...


----------



## Lewdog (Jan 20, 2014)

I'm pretty sure in the Dark Tower Series one of the people was a mute.  Stephen King just described hi motions and had someone with him that could talk and interpret what he was trying to say.  There are others I believe, but as my first example stated, I believe most have a companion that talks for them.


----------



## Deleted member 49710 (Jan 21, 2014)

I take it the POV is limited? If it were omniscient I'd think there'd be no problem having the narrator translate. In any case--you have facial expressions, gestures, all kinds of body language both conscious and unconscious--trembling, tension, relaxation, etc. As long as the mute character isn't also blind, s/he'd have learned to communicate reactions through these like anybody else, maybe moreso.

One thing that might be fun, in a limited POV, is that if everything is the POV character's interpretation, then this can reflect a great deal on the POV character and his/her attitude towards events; s/he can project his own reactions onto the mute character (who can then confirm or deny gesturally).

I'm not coming up with much for examples. Helen Keller, who's blind/deaf/mute and without language early in the book, but that's an omniscient POV (it's been a while since I've read it, too, not sure how well it's done). _One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest_, but that's a 1st person narrator.


----------



## Lewdog (Jan 21, 2014)

lasm said:


> I take it the POV is limited? If it were omniscient I'd think there'd be no problem having the narrator translate. In any case--you have facial expressions, gestures, all kinds of body language both conscious and unconscious--trembling, tension, relaxation, etc. As long as the mute character isn't also blind, s/he'd have learned to communicate reactions through these like anybody else, maybe moreso.
> 
> One thing that might be fun, in a limited POV, is that if everything is the POV character's interpretation, then this can reflect a great deal on the POV character and his/her attitude towards events; s/he can project his own reactions onto the mute character (who can then confirm or deny gesturally).
> 
> I'm not coming up with much for examples. Helen Keller, who's blind/deaf/mute and without language early in the book, but that's an omniscient POV (it's been a while since I've read it, too, not sure how well it's done). _One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest_, but that's a 1st person narrator.



Yes I forgot about the Chief in _One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest_.


----------



## Terry D (Jan 21, 2014)

In Stephen King's The Stand, one of the main characters, Nick Andros, is a deaf mute. For a significant part of the book Andros is traveling with a mentally handicapped man who can not read, so communication is very difficult. King handled it well.

If communication is important for your character, you may have to compromise somewhere along the line and 'invent' a way (drawing pictograms, perhaps?) to allow that communication.


----------



## Lewdog (Jan 21, 2014)

Terry D said:


> In Stephen King's The Stand, one of the main characters, Nick Andros, is a deaf mute. For a significant part of the book Andros is traveling with a mentally handicapped man who can not read, so communication is very difficult. King handled it well.
> 
> If communication is important for your character, you may have to compromise somewhere along the line and 'invent' a way (drawing pictograms, perhaps?) to allow that communication.



Yeah sorry I said the Dark Tower Series, it was _The Stand_.


----------



## Morkonan (Jan 21, 2014)

Thanks, all!

The story is Third Person, with some Limited Omniscience, of course. However, the trick I'm going for is to truly "mute" this mute character. I don't want internal dialogue, introspection or anything of the sort to break down the barrier, with one exception - Emotions. Even there, I'm trying to play with some words in order to paint the emotions into the character, from the outside. The Reader will be able to interpret certain internal states, like emotions, from obvious third-person descriptions. However, she (The mute) has no PoV/Omniscience scenes scheduled for her until much later in the story... 

So, basically, the way it's structured is this: She is introduced as a mute and the protagonist interacts with her on several occasions and over a long period of subjective time. This is all the Reader gets of her, but there's some intent to frustrate the Reader by having the protagonist obviously misinterpret the mute. You know, those moments when the character in the movie is about to do something stupid, like open the basement door, and you're yelling at the screen, calling them an idiot, since _you_ just saw the monster crawl into the basement? Yeah, something like that.

When the plot-related event kicks off, she gains a limited ability to speak. Her ability gets better, for obvious reasons. (Mutes are tough to write dialogue for...) But, until that point, the Reader gets no more information than what any other character would get. It's a gimmick, but one that will work well in emphasizing the barrier that has now been dropped.

I've read most of the works referenced and am familiar with the characters. (Though, it has been ages since I read "One Flew..." and I have to get another copy.) The most difficult thing is finding some good examples of characters that had no revealing PoV/Omniscience. For instance, I think "Friday" in Robinson Crusoe was kept completely "mute" for awhile. Not in his inability to express himself, but just due to language differences and PoV. There might be a suitable example in "The Island of Dr. Moreau", with the Dogman character late in the book. (Can't remember. I don't think he could talk and the MC was losing it around that time, as well.) There could be similar stories of Adventurers mixing with natives they can't understand or even aliens who's intents and desires have to be inferred.

Any other classic literary descriptions would be warmly accepted! (ie: Did Dickens do any? Poe? (He's gotta have done one, right?), Melville, Wells... Maybe some poetry about mutes? (At this point, I'm going to blindfold myself and stick some earplugs in my ears, just to get some ideas. Method writing, anyone?  )


----------

