Why Don't We Complain

A little girl pouting because she doesn't get what she wants; a soccer player who stops running because it's too hard; or a customer at the store saying that her strawberries are no good are all ways to complain. But, when someone has something legitimate to complain about, it gets pushed aside when it really should be said. That's what I learned from William F. Buckley Jr., in Why Don't We Complain.

When looking at the writing style of William F. Buckley Jr., I find that he uses imagery all throughout his writing. He uses words to paint a picture in your mind; a picture that will help you understand his point of view. Like, when he is describing the situation on the train, where it's 85 degrees and no one musters the confidence to complain about their suffering, he includes every detail about all aspects of the situation. Such as the setting, obviously; and the characters, like the conductor who walks through eighty sweaty men and doesn't realize that anything is wrong. He also includes the overwhelmingly bad mood that everyone must be in. His writing gives you the total ability to see where he's coming from and where he draws inspiration.

One of Buckley's explanations as to why people don't complain is this: "the observable reluctance of the majority of Americans to assert themselves in minor matters related to our increased sense of helplessness in an age of technology and centralized political power." In essence, this quote means that people are surrendering their voice and opinion to the politic and technology of our technological society. This statement is one of the strongest metaphors in this essay, but it also seems to directly correlate withe the book we just read, Amusing Ourselves to Death. I found it very interesting that Buckley would make a point like this in amongst the scenarios he used to persuade the reader.

The author of this essay frequently uses his opinions and experiences to explain the reasons we don't complain. Whether it is his out of focus movies, or ironic opinions. One ironic statement he made is that "I myself can occasionally summon the courage to complain, but I cannot, as I have intimated, complain softly." This statement is ironic because he starts out needing all this courage to complain at all, but when he does complain, he's loud and outgoing. Personally, I think ironic statements make the writing stronger because the reader has to think more to understand the message.

Overall, this essay by William F. Buckley Jr. taught me that people don't say what they really feel because they don't want to complain. But, those reservations cause the people who really need to be heard to not be heard at all. And when we don't say what we really feel, how will we be heard? We wont be.