Trees Can Speak

 by Alan Marshall

Actions can speak a thousand words, which is an ideal that appears to faded out of modern society. One of the main characters in Trees Can Speak is a man called Silent Joe, because he is mute, which makes him a social outcast, ‘This man never speaks … A few people have heard him say one word like “Hullo” or something.’ The narrator in this story has a physical disability, which can make him an outcast, but because he can still speak and communicate in the traditional way, he is still a social member of society. Alan Marshal challenges the idea that to be a functional member of society, you must be able to communicate in the same ways as everyone else, and instils the idea that you should never judge a book by it’s cover. 

By reaching put to Silent Joe, the narrator, who is never named, begins to make a connection with him, and while his comments and conversations are never reciprocated with words, he is able to understand Silent Joe because he chose to communicate with and understand him with was equal on both parts, ‘He looked at me with kindliness … beckoning like a friend.’ As they walked side by side, Silent Joe accomodating for the narrator as they walk and as they explore Silent Joe’s mine, they created a bond that probably wouldn’t have been created in different circumstances. Silent Joe understands the narrator, and can communicate with him without speaking, ‘He looked at me questioningly, a sympathetic concern shading his face.’ 

Silent Joe and the narrator have conversations just like any other two people, but the facial expressions Silent Joe uses to communicate can purvey more than a sentence could. In their parting, Silent Joe calls out ‘goodbye’, and ‘it was as if a tree had spoken’, illustrating that Silent Joe was comfortable in the connection he shared with the narrator, giving him the ability to divulge in something he has rarely done with anyone else; speak. 

Alan Marshall uses this bond these two men have formed to demonstrate that people are more than what you see on the surface; Silent Joe is, on the outside, stoic and silent like a tree, but on the inside he is compassionate and friendly. He also shows that actions can communicate more than words can. The friendship Silent Joe and the narrator created through actions, more so than words, was stronger and more meaningful than if they had just had a conversation at the grocery store, and probably wouldn’t have been created any other way.