Patience In Star Trek

Patience is an essential element in communication. Without it, we cannot communicate effectively. In fact, many problems occur due to a lack of effective communication. I felt really connected to this episode because I don’t always communicate well, and the characters had the same difficulty. In this episode of Star Trek, Captain Picard struggles to communicate with the Tamarians, but since he remains calm and continues to act with patience, he is eventually able to learn some of their language, and as a result, is able to comfort their leader as he dies. If Captain Picard had not been patient, he could have created unnecessary hostility between two parties. In order to communicate, patience is imperative.

Even though I may not go on adventures

to different planets, humans have a lot of problems communicating, so I can relate to Captain Picard’s difficulties. If we are not patient, we can get frustrated, like Ryker was getting frustrated. Captain Picard was very patient when the Tamarians and Star-Fleet first established contact through an open channel. They had no way to understand what the Tamarians were saying as they could not understand each other’s language. Though it would be easy to get frustrated, Captain Picard acted with patience.

When Captain Picard is beamed down to the planet, he meets the Tamarian leader, Dathon, who says “Darmok and Jalad.” as he holds a knife out to Captain Picard.

Picard thinks that this is a challenge to fight, so he refuses the knife. Dathon then says “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.” and throws the knife at Picard’s feet, but Picard doesn’t pick it up. Dathon tries again, pointing at the knife in front of Picard, and saying “Temba. His arms wide.”. Picard then throws the knife back to Dathon. Dathon becomes frustrated, as he cannot make his meaning clear to Picard. He says to himself, “Shaka...When the walls fell.”. At this point I was frustrated because they couldn’t communicate. I felt like Picard was being cautious, like a captain should be, but I also felt that he wasn’t trusting instinct or the vibes that Dathon was giving off. I felt that Dathon wasn’t a threat to Picard, because if he wanted to hurt Picard he would have done it sooner. My gut feeling was that he was friendly. The next time we see Picard, he fails to light a fire, and Dathon chuckles. “Shaka. When the walls fell.” When the walls fell could signify defeat, because when the walls to a city fell it meant that they lost the fight, and in the context it would make sense as Picard failed to light the fire. Next, Dathon says “Darmok of Kanza. Jalad of the Kituay.” Could Jalad and Darmok signify Picard and Dathon? Did Kanza and Kituay signify where Picard and Dathon came from? Picard begins to make

connections, and responds with “Picard of the Federation.” but Dathon doesn’t understand.

However, Picard is beginning to understand. I became really excited at this point, because I was starting to piece together the Tamarian language. Later, when Dathon notices that Picard

is cold, he holds out a stick alight with fire, hurls it to Picard and says, “Temba.”. Picard guesses that this means fire, but Dathon adds, “Temba. His arms wide.”. Picard tries to unearth what this could mean, but gives up on the meaning. He simply thanks Dathon. I felt disappointed because Picard was so close to understanding some of the Tamarian language, and didn’t quite get it. When Picard wakes up, Dathon is gone. Picard decides to go through Dathon’s personal items at the campsite. Dathon is nowhere to be seen, but soon emerges shouting, “Darmok and Jalad at Tenagra!”. Dathon shoves a knife into Picard’s hands, and at this point I felt worried because Dathon seems to be very concerned. I think thought that perhaps a dangerous native of the planet would make itself known? Dathon says, “Temba! His arms wide!” Picard still thinks that Dathon wants to fight him. All of a sudden, there is a roar, and Picard takes the knife from Dathon. They only see flickers of the monster’s image, and then it disappears again. Picard believes they should retreat from the monster. Dathon ignores the suggestion to retreat. I was very nervous at this point, because no one had been injured yet and that made me believe that there must be an injury in the near future. Dathon adds, “Shaka. When the walls fell.” Does this mean that Dathon believes that they will lose? Or does he believe that retreating will cause them to lose? This time, Picard starts to understand: he realises that “Shaka. When the walls fell.” might symbolize a failure. While they face the creature, Dathon says “ Uzani. His army at Lashmir. His army. With fist open. His army. With fist closed.”. While watching this scene, I am very confused, and I really want to know what this means. Then, Picard realizes that this means a trap! It is a strategy to lure the enemy in. This is the point where Picard realizes that they speak in metaphors. Dathon exclaims “Sokath. His eyes uncovered!”. “His eyes uncovered” must mean that Picard can see now, and he understands. Suddenly, Picard starts to beam up, but there is not enough energy to fully beam him up. While he is stuck semi-beamed up, the monster is beating Dathon up. The Enterprise crew cannot beam Picard up fully and they are forced to release Picard. He is just in time to see the monster disappear, leaving behind a very battered Dathon. “Shaka.”. says Dathon, and Picard finishes “When the walls fell.” Dathon then proceeds to pass out. At this point I was worried that the Tamarians would think that Picard killed Dathon and that would start a war. However, I was happy that Picard was able to finish Dathon’s sentence. Dathon then says to Picard, “Darmok and Jalad at Tenagra.” Picard wants to know more, so he remembers that “Temba” may mean “give”. He asks Dathon “Temba. His arms wide. Darmok.”, and while he does not speak the language well, Dathon understands. He replies “Darmok. On the ocean.” Picard thinks about the meaning of this. He recognizes that this means “alone”, as in being isolated. At the same time that Picard is realizing this, I remember that my mother has a book called “No man is an Island”, and this helped me to understand. If no man is an island, it means that no man is entirely independent and that he isn’t truly alone, so if they are saying that they are on the ocean, like an island, it must mean that they are alone, isolated. Picard asks for still more information, and Dathon says “Tanagra on the Ocean. Darmok at Tanagra.”. At this moment I concluded that Picard must be Darmok. Darmok is at Tanagra, which must be the Planet they’re on, and their planet is “on the ocean”- isolated. The next phrase that comes is “The beast at tanagra.” which must be the monster they fought, which Picard also realizes. The two characters are finally able to communicate to some degree, though it is clear that Dathon will not leave the planet alive. Picard tells Dathon a story to comfort him as he dies. I was really happy when the two could finally communicate, I was very upset that Dathon died, but I understood that Dathon made a sacrifice for peace.

Picard is beamed up just as the monster approaches him, as the crew has fired on the Tamarians. Picard, now back aboard the ship is able to communicate with the Tamarian First Officer, explaining what happened on the planet in their language, and informing them that their captain died. Captain Picard and Dathon both remained patient when trying to communicate with each other. Though it was difficult, they were eventually able to communicate on a very low level with each other. This allowed Captain Picard to comfort Dathon as he died, and prevent the possibility of the two parties becoming enemies. Picard even became part of their mythology. This was all possible due to the patience the two captains demonstrated. The two parties leave on peaceful terms, “maybe not new friends, but not new enemies.”