Silence Power Quotes

As soon as we hear "father," we think, "Uh oh, authority figure." And the speaker tells us we're going to hear what her father "used to say," which implies he said this several times, again and again. Usually when someone says something again and again, they want to teach or instruct their listener about something. The father is really asserting his authority here.

The speaker's father describes what superior people do (or don't do), and of course we immediately start to compare ourselves to these people. Do we behave in the same way? Can we qualify as superior people? But the father picks pretty specific examples that clearly tell us that superiority comes with being well-read (such as knowing who Longfellow is) and having spent time around fancy universities (such as Harvard. Don't think the father drops the H-bomb for nothing).

To emphasize how superior these people are, the speaker's father compares them to a cat who has conquered his prey. The detail about the mouse's tail resembling a shoelace is striking. It makes the mouse seem more sympathetic and…a bit like us. Is this detail included to make us identify more with the mouse than with the superior cat?

These people are so superior, they're OK with not asserting their superiority all the time. They are confident and secure enough to let other people do all the talking; they don't feel like they have to put in their own two cents every minute. The word "robbed" makes them sound like they are briefly overpowered, or even victimized, but even that's not a big deal. They let it happen. They're still in control.

Notice that the only times the speaker or her father mention themselves is when they describe something they own. In the speaker's case, that's "my father," and in the father's case, that's "my house." Calling something yours is an assertion of power – it turns that thing into your possession.