A Man Without Words Analysis
Laura Tarantella
SLHS 0207, fall 2015
A Man Without Words, Susan Schaller
In the book, A Man Without Words, Susan Schaller takes an interpreting job at a community college in Los Angeles, California. On her first day, she finds a young man named Ildefonso who is around 27 years old with his arms tucked in and his head following the each student as they passed. Schaller sits with the young man and tries to talk to him, thinking that everyone in the room could understand sign language. Schaller learns that Ildefonso, an illegal alien from rural Mexico, deaf since birth had no concept of language—signed, spoken, or written. At first, when Schaller would sign to him, he simply mimicked her signs, which frustrated them both. After working with …show more content…
He understood. He had forded the same river Helen Keller did at the water pump when she suddenly connected the water rushing over her hand with the word spelled into it. Yes, w-a-t-e-r and c-a-t mean something. And the cat-meaning in one head can join the cat-meaning in another's head just by tossing out a cat. . . . But a suddenly as he had asked for names, he turned pale, collapsed, and wept. . . . He had entered the universe of humanity, discovered the communion of minds. He now knew that he and a cat and a table all had names, and the fruit of his knowledge had opened his eyes to evil. He could see the prison where he had existed alone, shut out of the human race for twenty-seven years” (Schaller, 1991, pgs. 44-5). For me, this quote showed me that Ildefonso was able to learn. Proving that learning language after puberty could be possible and that not all who are languageless will stay that way.When I read this quote, my heart filled with joy knowing that Ildefonso, a 27 year old man, was learning about language and was understanding that words actually have a meaning. I think that many people do not understand how amazing it is to learn that language exists and that words can be connected to other words and that communication is
SLHS 0207, fall 2015
A Man Without Words, Susan Schaller
In the book, A Man Without Words, Susan Schaller takes an interpreting job at a community college in Los Angeles, California. On her first day, she finds a young man named Ildefonso who is around 27 years old with his arms tucked in and his head following the each student as they passed. Schaller sits with the young man and tries to talk to him, thinking that everyone in the room could understand sign language. Schaller learns that Ildefonso, an illegal alien from rural Mexico, deaf since birth had no concept of language—signed, spoken, or written. At first, when Schaller would sign to him, he simply mimicked her signs, which frustrated them both. After working with …show more content…
He understood. He had forded the same river Helen Keller did at the water pump when she suddenly connected the water rushing over her hand with the word spelled into it. Yes, w-a-t-e-r and c-a-t mean something. And the cat-meaning in one head can join the cat-meaning in another's head just by tossing out a cat. . . . But a suddenly as he had asked for names, he turned pale, collapsed, and wept. . . . He had entered the universe of humanity, discovered the communion of minds. He now knew that he and a cat and a table all had names, and the fruit of his knowledge had opened his eyes to evil. He could see the prison where he had existed alone, shut out of the human race for twenty-seven years” (Schaller, 1991, pgs. 44-5). For me, this quote showed me that Ildefonso was able to learn. Proving that learning language after puberty could be possible and that not all who are languageless will stay that way.When I read this quote, my heart filled with joy knowing that Ildefonso, a 27 year old man, was learning about language and was understanding that words actually have a meaning. I think that many people do not understand how amazing it is to learn that language exists and that words can be connected to other words and that communication is