The Sound of Silence: Commentary

 

Edvard Munch: Evening on Karl Johan (1892)

 

“The Sound of Silence” can be interpreted as a bitter satire towards the materialistic tendency of the people in the modern world. People have forgotten the real meaning and value of life. They are running after material prosperity and physical luxury. They debate and quarrel about worthless things. They listen to or watch meaningless things. The have become unable to communicate, since communication is only on a superficial and “commercial” level . Commercialism, materialism, mass media, have taken the position of God guiding people’s choices, necessities and goals and Neon signs seem to have replaced the Holy Scriptures

In such a society, lacking spirituality and true meaning of life, there is no serious understanding because there is no serious communication. No one dares take the risk of reaching out to disturb the sound of silence. Therefore, the voice trying to remind people what their goal should be is useless
When meaningful communication fails, the only sound is silence.

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