The Sound of Silence

For a song to represent Joe, I would choose “The Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel. The song certainly has a melancholy tone to it, and conveys the feeling that something is missing (or that there is more to the story than meets the eye), which are two ideas central to “Joe.” However, most important to the connection is the importance of silence in both the song and the story. In “Joe” the owner of the dog Joe encounters supposedly does not speak and is “silent.” As a result of the silent owner, the dog does not know its own name. Right after this point in the story, there is mention of a “world without sound,” silent music, and silent applause, among other things. After reading both “Joe” and the second Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close reading assignment where we get the unnamed character who loses the ability to speak, silence was a topic frequently on my mind. I thought the silence in Joe to be enough of a significant factor to actually have a “sound” and a presence in the story; a sound to silence is a little bit of a paradox, but it is something that is interesting to think about. In addition to the song primarily being about silence, “The Sound of Silence” makes reference to darkness, which relates to “Joe” as a result of the darkness present upon reading the story.