The Power of Words

Most people don't associate words with power. I didn't realize their power until I reached early adolescence; up until then I thought of power residing in the hands of world leaders or the corporations that influence the going-ons in our country. The realization of words' power came with learning about World War II for the first time, and seeing how influential and charming Hitler was persuading a whole people to follow him. The power of words became most important to me this year, when learning about literature.

The Leftovers is an artful compilation that exemplifies how powerful words can be, both in Tom Perrotta's authorial intentions and details, and in the words and actions of the characters. Perrotta seems to pull from historical examples like Hitler coming into power in the character of Holy Wayne, the cult leader Tom Garvey falls in with. At first, Holy Wayne is just a grieving father who lost his only son in the Departure who makes rounds giving inspirational lectures and claiming to "take" people's pain away with a hug. His words engender belief in at first a small group of people, that then explodes into a huge following across the United States. Holy Wayne takes away the pain of not knowing what happened and turns it into a massive cult following, to the point of criminality with odd religious connections.

HBO's The Leftovers' Holy Wayne takes pain from a "leftover" woman. 

Holy Wayne isn't the only distributor of compelling words. The character of Reverand Matt Jamison copes with his apparent "unworthiness" as a disciple of God in not Departing by trying to prove the Departure couldn't possibly be the Rapture. He publishes a sick sort of gossip rag, unearthing the dirty laundry of the Departed, including that of Nora Durst, the woman whose whole family disappeared, revealing the affair her husband carried out with their children's preschool teacher. His words enrage the community of Mapleton, and he is ostracized by the town and separated from his family.

HBO's The Leftovers' Rev. Matt Jamison sits in front of his church where he also prints his "gossip rag."

Of course, Perrotta doesn't just examine the power of words. He also picks apart the power of silence. The Guilty Remnant, the organization Laurie Garvey joins in the aftermath of the Departure, lists silence as one of its main tenets. Paired with GR members following townspeople around in pairs wearing all white and smoking cigarettes, their silence overwhelms those not partaking, and often drives them to anger and bad decision-making.

A tenet of the Guilty Remnant. 

This makes me want to research speech-writing. Politicians, CEOs, public figures, all of them persuade with the power of words. I want to write one of my genres in the format of a speech delivered by the President of the United States in the immediate aftermath of the Departure/Rapture/whatever it may be. Perrotta briefly discusses this aspect of such a cataclysmic event, but I would like to explore it in more depth.