45 pages • 1-hour read
Silent To The Bone
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Themes
Friendship, Family, and Their Unspoken Understandings
Content Warning: This section mentions child physical and sexual abuse.
There are unspoken understandings between close friends and family, and these understandings form out of well-forged, lengthy bonds. Connor and Branwell are best friends, and it is because they have grown up together and gone through the same things that Connor is able to help and understand Branwell when no one else can. Connor explains how “friendship depends on interlocking time, place, and state of mind” and that there is no particular reason or explanation for why he and Branwell became friends (13). It is a complex and mysterious fact that Connor accepts with gratitude: “I am proud to say that the first words he spoke were to me, which does not help explain why we are friends but it says a lot about how deep the layers of our friendship go” (21). He knows that he and Branwell have a lifelong friendship ahead of them and feels lucky to have someone like Branwell beside him. Connor accepts Branwell’s awkwardness and offers him the patience he needs, and Branwell supports Connor in everything he does. While their friendship has grown distant over the past few weeks, once Connor finds out the source of this change, their bond is resealed, stronger than ever.
Connor and Branwell’s friendship becomes the central source of Branwell’s healing and slow revealing of what happened to him and Nikki. Connor also relies on his sister, Margaret, and her understanding of the teenage experience to help him reason things through. Everything that Connor does during the time while Branwell is in the detention center is for Branwell, and he devotes his energy and mental capacity to helping solve his case. Connor uses flash cards that each represent something that only he and Branwell understand, and he notices that over their visits together, he and Branwell’s friendship begins to evolve. They begin to need each other in an entirely different way as they mature and navigate adolescence together. No matter how exhausted or irritated Connor becomes, he continues going back to see Branwell and continue what he started. Connor’s efforts slowly pay off, and he hears from the guards that Branwell is always more cheerful after he visits. When Branwell does speak again, he tells Connor what an incredible friend he is, and Connor is just happy to have his friend back. Branwell is able to tell Connor what he couldn’t tell anyone else, and it is thus only Connor who could help him find his voice again.
In the story, Konigsburg creates many overlapping and parallel relationships that advance this theme and advance the plot. Margaret understands Branwell in a way that Connor cannot because she, like Branwell, knows what it’s like to feel left behind after a parent remarries. She also understands being an older half-sibling to a younger half-sibling who results from the new marriage. Because of these similarities, she is able to empathize with Branwell in a way that helps Connor understand him more. She is also a safe person for Branwell, and he stays at her house for a few days before returning home to his father, Tina, and Nikki. Elsewhere in the story, Connor helps Margaret find a new way of viewing her father and their relationship. The circumstances of the case also bring them together for a common cause—since they both care about Branwell—but Connor’s wise words about how relationships change motivate Margaret to reconsider her relationship with her father.
Silence as a Form of Communication
Silence becomes an unexpected form of communication in and of itself when Branwell stops speaking following a traumatic incident with his baby sister, Nikki. Connor describes Branwell before the incident as someone who loved words, wordplay, philosophy, and writing. Branwell was a huge talker and always had something inventive or interesting to say. Because of this, Connor knows that Branwell’s silence is severe and not just an act or a willful refusal. Branwell always struggled to say how he really felt and would often disguise his feelings through discussion of other topics, like talking about Vivian’s accent rather than how he felt about her. When he met his baby sister for the first time, he didn’t know what to say, and the moment was awkward at best. Connor sees Branwell’s silence as “a weapon. And it may be a weapon of defense. Or it may be a weapon of aggression” (201).
Connor comes to learn that the reasons for Branwell’s silence are complex and multilayered and not as simple as merely refusing to discuss a painful incident. Branwell seems genuinely unable to talk, as though he has been silenced by something within himself that needs to break free. Branwell’s eyes become his only mode of communicating words, but his silence is his way of communicating his shame, his pain, and his refusal to heal until his sister heals. As time goes on, his silence becomes increasingly strained and agitated, as though he is desperate to finally speak but still cannot do so. Branwell relies on finger gestures, his eyes, and the flash cards that Connor made. Having to speak for Branwell exhausts Connor, but he does it for the sake of his friend. When Branwell finally does break his silence, it is because he feels safe, understood, and able to confront what was causing him to withdraw.
Another element of this theme’s development is Connor’s listening, another form of silence that is different than not speaking. As Connor also practices silence as he listens to testimonies, his sister’s advice, and Branwell’s unspoken words, he learns that “silence does for thinking what a suspension bridge does for space—it makes connections” (124). The less that Connor talks and the more that he listens and observes, the more he learns and figures out about Branwell’s case. He realizes that it’s often better to be silent and that there is a certain power in saying nothing: “The truth is that if you don’t say anything, you can’t say anything wrong” (90).
The Impact of Shame on One’s Personal Choices
Shame is a powerful mental-emotional process and one of the most complex inner experiences that a person can have. Connor and Margaret philosophize about the difference between shame and embarrassment: “Embarrassment is something that makes you feel silly or awkward or out-of-place in the presence of someone else. Shame is something that happens to you on the inside and you don’t want anyone else present” (181). Connor understands that shame is a much more powerful driving force than embarrassment and that shame is primarily internal, while embarrassment is external. Connor and Margaret believe that whatever happened in the bathroom between Vivian and Branwell caused Branwell to feel ashamed because it was after this incident that Branwell closed off and stopped talking about Vivian. Branwell admits that a part of him wanted something to happen, but as soon as it did, he was overcome with negative emotions, knowing that it was wrong. He describes being compelled by something beyond his control, as though he were acting purely on instinct and impulse. As he reflects on what happened, he comes to understand the extent of Vivian’s role and how her manipulation influenced Branwell’s actions.
Branwell’s shame is in part due to what happened in the bathroom but also because of how long he went without telling his parents about Vivian’s abuse and neglect. Rather than compromising Vivian’s reputation (because Branwell still had a crush on her), Branwell instead went through the extra effort of taking care of Nikki himself, thus effectively hiding Vivian’s neglect from his parents when he knew that was wrong. Vivian not only coaxed Branwell into this awful position but also sexually manipulated him in his vulnerable adolescent state. She was well aware of Branwell’s feelings for her and used them to do something not only morally wrong but also illegal. Vivian seems to never experience shame, as she is openly willing to abuse an infant, take advantage of a teenager, and invite a man into the family’s home day after day. Her total lack of shame leads to a lack of morality, while Branwell’s extensive feelings of shame lead him to silence. It takes a month for Branwell to work through his shame and find the courage to open up about what happened to him, and the person he chooses to tell is his best friend, Connor. Connor is the only one who understands the strange feelings of attraction and powerlessness that Vivian inspires.
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