Crash Rhetorical Analysis

Locked and Loaded

In scenes 35 and 36 of Crash, Haggis illustrates how language differences influence the relationships between ethnic and cultural groups. Daniel a Latino locksmith repairs the lock on the rear door of Farhad's corner market. He checks his work and discovers that Farhad needs a new door. He goes to the counter, where Farhad appears to be napping. Daniel reports the he replaced the lock. Daniel advises Farhad to fix the door. Farhad doesn’t understand the semantics and is unable to interpret message that Daniel is attempting to convey. Aware of the language barrier, Daniel makes an effort to explain the situation unhurriedly and as clear as possible. Farhad replies, “How much?” Daniel explains that he is merely a locksmith and doesn’t have the ability to replace the doors. Farhad assumes that Daniel is attempting to extort or run a scam on him; he inquires if Daniel has a friend who conveniently replaces doors for a living. Daniel insists that this is not the case. After a fruitless exchange Daniel grows frustrated; he hands Farhad the bill and requests payment for lock. In an effort

The language barrier between the Daniel and Farhad increased the probability for miscommunication. Farhad’s primary language was Farsi; he know just enough English to get by. Daniel was bilingual and seemingly fluent in both Spanish and English. When language groups are immensely different, individuals will inadvertently have difficulty communicating with one another. In scene 36 of Crash, language malformed something that seemed comparatively easy to say into a statement that was effectively impossible to comprehend. Authentic communication is unlikely to transpire without some gradation of understanding and agreement between the conversation’s participants. Farhad’s inability to understand Daniel’s explanation of the door repair and their inability to agree on the meaning of the message being conveyed inhibited authentic