Language is the most favoured way of communication to other human beings. It is the fuel used to emancipate our passions. Language has colossal power and its effect solely relies on how we control and use it. Because words are frequently used subconsciously, people never realise how big of an impact words can be. This excellent novel, Don’t call me Ishmael, narrates a story about a boy, named Ishmael, who builds up both emotionally and physically as many barriers, trials and temptations come his way. Ishmael has acquired this great power through one of his classmates, James Scobie, who inspired him to develop this strength through debating. In this amazing book, Bauer displays the great power of language as some kind of invisible force that can turn a normal boy’s life into a complete imbecile. Many people say, ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me’. In this essay, I will present to you how this saying is completely wrong.
The power of language can affect the way people interpret a piece of text just because of a few words. Just one word like ‘before’ and ‘after’ has a big impact on how many people understand it. A great example that Bauer uses in the book is the challenge that Miss Tarango sets before the boys. The challenge was that any boy who volunteered would sit on a chair. Before she walked around
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Numerous crowd of people never realise that what they had wanted to be humorous had been an insult to a particular person or group of people. This may be triggered because of a mispronunciation or a person commenting on what other people have said. One of the many examples that Bauer uses in Don’t call me Ishmael, is Barry Bagsley, Doug Savage and Danny Wallace. These three boys cause chaos around the school, especially in Ishmael’s class. When Ishmael was mentioned for the first time by Mr Brownhill, his homegroup