The Chairs Language and Communication Quotes

Umm, so where exactly is this little story going? It's almost impossible to understand what the heck the Old Man is talking about. Is he the idiot with rice on his belly? Did he and his wife just see some guy wallowing on the ground with rice? Don't worry, we have no idea either. If you look closely at the story, though, you'll notice how the same words loop and repeat, until they steadily become more and more nonsensical. Ionesco uses this method throughout the play, perhaps in an attempt to show the arbitrariness of language. Can words ever really communicate exactly how we feel? Can they ever really bring back the past?

Notice that the Old Man hopes to use language to bring meaning to his life and to the lives of the rest of humanity. His great message is supposed to come in the form of words. What do you think this says about the power of words?

The Old Woman seems to place great value on language. She seems to be saying that words control our very thoughts and ideas. Do you think that's true? Can we think about something that we don't have words for?

The fact that we can't hear what the invisible Lady is saying seems to highlight the meaninglessness of small talk. When you only get one side of the conversation, you realize that it's really nothing but a string of nonsensical and contradictory yeses and nos. The trivial nature of everyday pleasantries was one of Ionesco's pet themes. Check out his play The Bald Soprano, for more exploration of this. When we hear dialogue like this, we're forced to ask ourselves how often conversation is actually meaningful.

At this point the conversation with the invisible guests becomes totally nonsensical, making us ask again if anybody is really communicating at all. Don't think, though, that Ionesco was just carelessly throwing words on the page. Look carefully at these sorts of passages as you read the play. Why do you think the Old Man and Woman keep saying "all in all"? What could this be referencing? Life? Death? Everybody? Everything?

Notice how the Old Man introduces the guests without even using any names. This makes us think of almost every party we've ever been to. You know, you get introduced to tons of people but only remember a couple of names. Does anybody ever truly listen to one another?

We wonder what the Old Man means when he speaks of "holes." It seems, in the quote above, that he values the "absolute silence" that he wakes up surrounded by. Could the "holes" possibly occur when he speaks to other people? Could he be saying that communication is in some way a bad thing? Perhaps in dealing with other people we lose some part of ourselves.

The Old Man has gone through his whole life without ever really communicating with anybody. Not even his wife seems to understand what his message really is. The Old Man seems to place great value on communication, even though he's apparently not very good at it. All of his hopes rest on the Orator delivering his great message.

Here is the moment we've been waiting for: the delivery of the message. But wait, the Orator doesn't appear to be saying anything at all. Well, he does say "he," which is followed by what might be an attempt to say "me." It also looks like he might be trying to say "you." What does he, me, or you have to do with anything? We have no idea. Ultimately, the Old Man's message, if there ever was one, fails to be communicated. What do you think this says about the ability of language to communicate at all? Is there any combination of words that can articulate the meaning of life?

What the heck is "ANGELFOOD" supposed to mean? Are we all food for angels or something? There's really no telling. It seems that in the world of The Chairs, even the written word fails to communicate. The play seems to asking us to think about whether there is any possible way for human beings to truly understand one another. Can we ever know what it's like to be someone else?