All the characters in "No Exit" are dead, though they don't talk about their deaths directly, not at first: giving words to the truth would mean facing it.
But Lamar also emphasizes his nasal high end, giving words a hint of sarcastic resignation, which is a very East Coast quality.
"It helps to have energy from a student group out there, getting the message out and giving words of encouragement because the student recruiters are right there in it," Mr. Harris said.
Oates: Yes, I'm sure that you are right, Meghan — the act of writing is an act of attempted comprehension, and, in a childlike way, control; we are so baffled and exhausted by what has happened, we want to imagine that giving words to the unspeakable will make it somehow our own.
Donoghue skillfully deploys Eliot's literary criticism, especially the less-known early reviews, to argue that "Eliot's genius took the form of the auditory more than the visual imagination" -- or, in other words, that his "language goes some distance toward giving words... independent life".
Those languages are gift giving, words of affirmation, physical affection, acts of service, and quality time.
