In the movie, “Love is Never Silent”, Margaret Ryder (Maggie), a hearing daughter to two deaf parents, grew up during the Great Depression, where the lives between the hearing and the deaf were very segregated. Her parents did not interact with hearing people and relied on Maggie to interpret all situations necessary, including very difficult situations involving money, health and death. Maggie was very unselfish growing up, making her parents her number one priority, which forced her to set aside normal activities with friends and boyfriends. She allowed herself to fall in love with William, a soldier who joined the Army at the beginning of World War II after the bombing at Pearl Harbor. Maggie’s parents saw this union as an act of betrayal.
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When their parents were buying a house, the realtor asked Maggie if her parents could read and write. He wanted to make sure they would be able to sign the contracts to buy the house. He also wanted to know if they had enough money and if they were able to hold jobs since they were deaf. Unfortunately, the hearing people thought of the deaf people as deaf and dumb. They assumed the deaf were uneducated solely because they couldn’t …show more content…
Maggie’s mom refuses to take any handouts from anyone. She gets angry when Maggie accepts change from Mr. Petrakis, who is a good friend to Maggie. Later, her mother refuses to let her daughter purchase a dress from her friends’ father’s dress show, using a discount. I also learned that hearing people, like Maggie, who grow up in a deaf family struggle in academics because sign language is their first language. Although, Maggie is hearing, she was forced to work much harder than her peers for that reason. Lastly, I learned that houses in the depression era were not equipped properly to assist someone who was deaf because the technology did not exist yet. Her parents experienced missed visitors and a telegram that they didn’t get right away. Also, Maggie would have to enter the home unannounced after she had moved out because there was no way to alert a
When their parents were buying a house, the realtor asked Maggie if her parents could read and write. He wanted to make sure they would be able to sign the contracts to buy the house. He also wanted to know if they had enough money and if they were able to hold jobs since they were deaf. Unfortunately, the hearing people thought of the deaf people as deaf and dumb. They assumed the deaf were uneducated solely because they couldn’t …show more content…
Maggie’s mom refuses to take any handouts from anyone. She gets angry when Maggie accepts change from Mr. Petrakis, who is a good friend to Maggie. Later, her mother refuses to let her daughter purchase a dress from her friends’ father’s dress show, using a discount. I also learned that hearing people, like Maggie, who grow up in a deaf family struggle in academics because sign language is their first language. Although, Maggie is hearing, she was forced to work much harder than her peers for that reason. Lastly, I learned that houses in the depression era were not equipped properly to assist someone who was deaf because the technology did not exist yet. Her parents experienced missed visitors and a telegram that they didn’t get right away. Also, Maggie would have to enter the home unannounced after she had moved out because there was no way to alert a