Silence Speaks Louder Than Words In Uncle Rock

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Silence Speaks Louder than Words in “Uncle Rock” “He’d be sitting there, eating with his mother, not bothering anybody, and life was good, when a man started changing it all” (285). This passage reflects how writer, Dagoberto Gilb, in his short story, “Uncle Rock,” sets the tone of Erick’s character as he narrates a story about a young boy who lives through the experiences of his mom’s relationships with men. Erick’s quiet demeanor serve as a form of detachment from creating a relationship with them. Emphasized by Erick’s silence and non-verbal actions, the quiet demeanor illustrate his disapproval towards the men in these relationships with his mom. Erick is a quiet boy who through his silence creates a detachment from the many relationships …show more content…

First, Erick “tighten[s] his jaw” and looks at his mom when the man mistaken his age (285). This would bother any child of his age. The lack of sensitivity toward Erick’s feelings, and disregard of his person, annoys him. Then, he reacts when he “drove” his fork into his eggs making them bleed (285). This non-verbal action notes what Erick thought of doing to the man. Although she later meets with him, this is clearly a signal of disapproval. In another occasion, Erick and his mom have dinner at the engineer’s house where the wealth and luxury is in full display, front and center, in the form of “two convertible sports cars” (286). In the engineer’s house, Erick feels out of place and reacts to this feeling by simply demonstrating restrain from enjoying the dinner with the engineer’s family. Gilb’s describes Erick “taking the smallest bites” so the family did not “think he liked ‘their’ food” (286). Clearly, Erick may enjoy other types of food, but by demonstrating that he likes their food, it would give a false impression of acceptance to those present, which Erick denies them by being quiet during dinner. On the other hand, Erick comes to terms with accepting Uncle Rock as a suitor to his mom when one of his non-verbal actions against another man favors him. There is a moment in the story where Erick gets rid of a note he receives for his mom from a baseball player. Erick does not share what happens with the couple. He simply denies one man from having a relationship with his mom and allows another man to continue being around them. This non-verbal action expresses a form of acceptance to Uncle Rock and allows the opportunity for him to pursue a relationship with Erick’s

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