Sound and Fury Made Me Furious

 Journal 4-1

Last month I asked if incarceration rates vary by race. In doing some research I found out that race is a huge factor in high incarceration rates. In a survey collected in 2004 of 100,000 Americans, 393 of those incarcerated are Caucasian, 957 are Latino, and 2,531 are African-American. That means more than 6x of Blacks are incarcerated than Whites, and rough 3x more Blacks are incarcerated than Latinos. 

Last week in class we watched a documentary called "Sound and Fury." It follows the story of a deaf family with a five year old daughter who wants a cochlear implant. The entire family, including the mother, father, and three children are all deaf. When the oldest daughter, Heather, announces she wants a cochlear implant, a debate involving their entire family ensues over whether or not she should get an implant. Meanwhile, Heather's has twin cousins born and one is deaf, and her aunt and uncle decided to get an implant for her cousin. Heathers family visits a school with children who all have implants, and two families who have gotten their children implants. heather's mom even goes to see if she could get an implant. But after all their research, they decided not to get Heather the  cochlear implant, despite the fact her grandparents and aunt and uncle advocated strongly for it. They believe that Heather's parents are choosing a limited life for her, because she will never have as many opportunities as her hearing counterparts in our dominantly hearing world.

I really enjoyed this movie. Heather was adorable, and after listening to her reasoning for wanting an implant I really hoped she would get one. At five years old it was already obvious she is extremely smart, and if she could hear, her future would be limitless. It not that deaf people are unsuccessful, but the world is dominated by hearing people. Heather's father even said herself he is limited on the corporate ladder because of his deafness. If Heather got the implant the possibilities for her life are endless. So when her parents decided not to get her an implant, I was really upset. I think that they were afraid that if Heather was able to hear, it would tear apart their family. But in actuality Heather will always be deaf even if she does have the implant. But she also has the option of turning her implant on and being functional in the hearing world. I hated that her parents took that opportunity away from her because of their own fear and jealousy.

I sided most with Heather's grandmother, who witnessed what her son went through being deaf. She saw the isolation and hardship he went through, and she didn't want that for her granddaughter. But Heather's parents have clearly forgotten what it was like growing up deaf in a hearing world, and choose a life of limits for their daughter.  They even end up moving to a deaf community in Maryland. That clearly illustrates them isolating themselves and their children from the hearing world that is so frightening to them, when Heather and her brothers have an opportunity to thrive in the hearing world if they got a cochlear implant.

The situation in Sound and Fury did not specifically remind me a certain event, but just the eternal struggle between parents and their children. Parents believe they always know what is best for their child, even when is differs from what the child wants. I don't doubt that parents are super intuitive when it comes to their kids and I don't doubt that they know what is best for their children. But it becomes a slippery slope when parents can only see what they want for their child, not what their child wants.

My question for next week is what ever happened to Heather? Did she eventually get the implant, and if not, how is she doing now?

Works Cited:
1) U.S. Incarceration Rates by Race. (n.d.). www.prisonpolicy.org. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://www.prisonpolicy.org/graphs/raceinc.html

2) Where is Heather Artininan Today?. (n.d.). Cochlear Implant Online. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://cochlearimplantonline.com/site/where-is-heather-artinian-today/

3)Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://www.posteritati.com/jpg/S4/SOUND%20AND%20FURY%201SH.JPG