Susana V. Chavez

Professor Jean Baptiste

August 31, 2011

English 1010

To many times we take the most essential things of living for granted; we get so used them

that, after a while, they fade in the background like a constant sound. Its only when we are

confronted with a stressful situation that we realize what we truly have and why it’s important.

I was one of many who took voice for granted. I realized it was an important tool when my

aunt and uncle found out the terrible news that something was wrong with their baby. They were

wondering why he was unable to swallow food at a young age and why he was delaying to

speak. I tried imagining what it would be for him to be unable to speak; how will he let his needs

be know? How will my aunt and uncle know what he really wants or how will they know

something’s wrong with him and aid him appropriately? It seemed almost cruel to me how the

things I took for granted, someone else may wish they had.

A Voice creates a gateway for communication between people, it is important because

through it we express our thoughts and emotions. No one else can speak for us, for they don’t

know what we truly feel and think. In the book Brother I’m Dying Uncle Joseph is a very

important character because he loses his voice. We become aware of his struggles derived from

his inability to speak after his surgery. The author talks about an occasion when Uncle Joseph

really wanted to speak, “I remember how much he wanted to talk at Grandme Melina’s funeral.”

(pg 154) “Reaching for the microphone, he unhinged it from the stand and raised it to his lips. He

opened his mouth and just as he did every morning along with his Berlitz record, he moaned:

Good –Bye.”(pg74)..[sic]… this, he seemed to want to say, was not like all the other funerals

he’d been able to speak but couldn’t…”(pg 75)

I never paid much attention to this matter and didn’t actually focus on how essential a Voice

really is. Although there will be difficulties for my cousin, and other like him who can’t speak

for whatever the reason, there are other means of communicating such as sign language. There

have also been many advances in technology that have made places accessible to people who are

blind and deaf as well.