In 1926: living at the edge of time - Monoskop

SILENCE VS. NOISE 323
maintain absolute privacy. I use money and silence to shelter myself from
those who try to belittle or destroy me. It is not easy, for I must always
be on my own" (Gronowicz, 209). Garbo's behavior corresponds to an
ideal that Adolf Hitler finds lacking in the present German system of
education. Although he tries to explain his appreciation of Silence as a
"male virtue" through its specific military functions, it appears that what
Hitler really admires is the more general gesture of Silence as self-containment
and as a willed distance from the environment: "How often
one complained, during the war, that our people knew so little about
being silent! How difficult this made it to keep even important secrets
from the enemy! But one should ask oneself: Before the war, what did
German education do to train the individual for secrecy? Even in school,
unfortunately, wasn't the little tattle-tale preferred to his discreet comrade?
Wasn't, and isn't, tale-telling looked upon as honorable 'frankness,'
and discretion as shameful obstinacy? Did one endeavor at all to
present discretion as a valuable manly virtue? ... But in the case of war,
this inclination to talk can even lead to the loss of battles and thus
contribute substantially to the unfavorable outcome of a conflict"
(Hitler, 460-461). While reticence thus has unquestioned positive value,
verbosity is often perceived as a lack of tact-and sometimes even as a
social pathology. Alcoholics tend to talk too much [see Bars]. American
tourists on their rapid trips through Europe annoy their philosophically
minded countrymen who are searching silently for authenticity. [see
Americans in Paris] Even sophisticated criminals, like the narrator in The
Murder of Roger Ackroyd, hate talkative people because they represent
a potential security risk: "'I know,' said my sister. 'How did you know?'
'Annie told me.' Annie is the house parlourmaid. A nice girl, but an
inveterate talker" (Christie, 3).
Beyond the level of purely correct-and therefore expectable-social
behavior, noiselessness can become a sign of elegance. In Fritz Lang's
metropolis, the sons of the Masters of Metropolis compete at sports
wearing not only silk uniforms also "soft, supple shoes, with noiseless
soles" (Lang, 22). Expensive cars have noiseless engines. The "entirely
new Nash models," which are three to six times more expensive than the
average car (which sells for $360), are "powered with the Nash 7-bearing
motor-the world's smoothest type" (Pages of Time). [see Automobiles]
But for all their value as status symbols, noiselessness and Silence
remain primarily social virtues. They indicate a willingness to respect