Henri Martin: Silence (1894/97)

"Only I hold the power to counter that power … "

Silence surely stands as the most powerful of all the superpowers granted to mortals, though it's pure potential, so few suspect its presence. The Unspoken commands great authority in human affairs, and the Unspeakable unquestionably holds the greatest. A mouthful of Unspeakable feels like gravel. It's genuinely embarrassing. It seems illicit and dirty. It too easily convinces the one possessing it to remain silent, even perhaps unto death. The bulk of its great power comes from just this sense: if it's mentioned, great calamity might ensue. Someone might get offended. Relationships might have to be ended, friendships ruined, associations severed. A great and terrible truth might render asunder even the tenderest alliance.

The secret might consume its holder, rendering them not merely mute. They might find themself unable to think of anything but the Unspeakable, obsessively turning over its odd authority in their mind. It might be mentionable to everyone except its principal, the one for whom the message might be intended. Everyone else might be queried except the one for whom the information must be intended. Seeking advice and counsel and praying it will not advise disclosure, the secret holder becomes quietly complicit in continuing whatever behavior must remain unmentioned. The cause, whatever it once was, shifts to become the secret, the unspoken, the damnable unspeakable.

Affairs can only fester after that. A possibility remains off the table as long as the unspoken remains unspeakable. Further, the holder of the unspoken, suddenly the most powerful person in the universe, loses their passion for their passage. As long as they must hold themselves mute, they suffocate, unable to breathe free or clear. Fear starts consuming them. First, there was the fear that they might let that dreaded unspeakable slip out and later that they couldn't—a shadow of cowardice peers in on the proceedings. The search for the right messenger ensues. The search for the right time distracts. The possession of the most tremendous power known never renders its owner into feeling powerful. Quite the opposite sensation emerges. The greatest power seems more of a burden than a possession. It owns you more than you ever possess it. You eventually realize that only you can be the messenger, and now must be the time, whatever the risks.

It becomes a great and burdensome curse before it ever becomes a blessing. A blurting might make a real difference. Since the Unspeakables' power lies in potential, their terrible force only exists when unused. Once deployed, once actually spoken, Unspeakables seldom cause an explosion. They more often produce confusion. Follow-up questions, perhaps cloaked in the kinds of denial indicating profound difficulty understanding. You've disclosed the unthinkable. It should properly require some time for it to start absorbing where it might usefully influence a metabolism. In the meantime, cross-examination should occur. Ten thousand deflecting questions might fail to stay some realization. The change happened the second the Unspeakables were spoken. The rest might as well be considered ramifications, after-effects, and echoes.

The proudest moments in my life have followed my disclosing Unspeakables. I've become no master of their power. If anything, I've become more humble for my experiences. I hold this personal ethical responsibility as lightly as possible. I hold the ethical responsibility to (sometimes) speak the unspeakable. I must eventually disclose whatever's not supposed to be revealed, whatever's not supposed to be talked about, for without that disclosure, that unspeakable retains its power and profoundly influences everything with the greatest authority known to human affairs. Only I hold the power to counter that power, like only you hold that power to counter that power for you.

©2024 by David A. Schmaltz - all rights reserved

Tags: #iAlogue , #PureSchmaltz