The Power of Words

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“He thought--while his hand moved rapidly--what a power there was in words; later, for those who heard them, but first for the one who found them; a healing power, a solution, like the breaking of a barrier. (Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead)” Words have the power to deceive, uplift, communicate or penalize someone depending on how they are used. A silenced individual has the power to affect the way things are done in the society. Words can be used to say things a person to deceive them so they do not even realize someone is trying to trick them. “It’s not the medium, in other words, but the message. (p. 65 The Lost Art of Reading)” The messages many advertisements portray are different from what they are saying. They are allowed to twists facts to deceive consumers as many examples are given in UnSpun how the deception has been used in advertising for years. They use positive words and happy families to make you feel warm inside when you see the commercial even if it is for a depression pill. Words have the power to change how people view the world. They can see it as fair or they can see themselves as hapless and they feel the need to even out their luck by taking someone else’s pleasures in life. “It is the word by which the depraved steal the virtue of the good, by which the fools steal the wisdom of the sages. (pg. 97, Anthem)” They see life as unfair for some people to be smarter or nicer and try to ruin their good fortune in life. They think all people should share their misfortunes and go through the good times and the bad times as a community. In Anthem, the societies refer to themselves as one person and the individuals call themselves “we”, losing all diversity of the culture. Words are universal; they are used in all cultures and spoken in all languages. They can be used to express how you feel or to describe what you see. Many people use words as a foresight to their actions, but many people will say they things their actions could never fulfill. In a lifetime and individual will experience many broken promises by them and by others. Most people have a gregarious side and like to communicate with others. =They like to share thoughts so they do not keep emotions bottled up and when people are silenced the emotions will build up inside.

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