Summary Of Tom Munnecke's 'Nothing Is Missing'

How much does language truly affect the way that we think? In “Nothing is Missing,” Tom Munnecke discusses the limitations that arise when being confined to unique “linguistic shells.” However, after an eye-opening trip to Japan language paradoxes that once hindered the fluidity of his thoughts were depleted. Through his own experiences with thinking and speaking in different languages, Munnecke was able to open his mind and view the world in a more progressive way. The “linguistic shell” that frustrated Munnecke in his early age becomes a lead to many theories that he has about our modern lives. Subsequently, Munnecke is able to relate language, thought, and distance; all of which he concludes have no boundaries within each other. In his memoir

Writer’s tend to use parody to overstress or exaggerate a point that they are trying to make. In “Nothing Is Missing,” Munnecke uses parody to further explain his meaning of “linguistic shell” and the parody of human language. As Munnecke says, “reality was not a perfectly precise, enclosed shell in which everything was rational: a word for every thought and a thought for every word. There were always holes in the fabric of reality, which normal people simply ignored in order to maintain their rationality.” (Munnecke 423) Munnecke uses this statement to enforce the parody of human language. Through the repetition of “reality” and “rationality,” Munnecke is able to emphasize his belief that language can create a barrier between the way we think and the way that our thoughts are expressed. Furthermore, this quote also narrows the audience from those “normal people” who ignore or aren’t familiar with linguistic shells to those who speak multiple languages and can relate to Munnecke’s language paradox. (423) “Not understanding it, I understood its meaning. Being confused, I discovered the truth. Being hot, I was cold. Being public, I was private. Being outside, I was inside. Seeing the flow, I could see the snapshot. Having no language, I had a new language. Seeing time, I could lose it. Being weak, I was

Munnecke consistently uses the term “linguistic shell” to ensure that the reader becomes aware of his meaning for that term. While “linguistic shell” is a phrase that Munnecke created himself to describe the way that he was feeling, his repetition familiarizes the reader with those same thoughts. Although Munnecke originally stated that he saw his “linguistic shell with great ambivalence” he later said “travelling to Japan jolted [him] into understanding the “nothings” outside [his] Western linguistic shell.” (428) The reader is able to understand that journey due to the repetition of the same phrase. At the brink of his realization, Munnecke says “...the emptiness of the space the flower framed was connected to the emptiness of my linguistic shell. Words created negative space, but we were blind to it. Words were sitting, reality was flowing.” (Munnecke 424) In this quote Munnecke once again uses repetition of the terms “reality” and “linguistic shells.” (424) His consistency in using these words exhibits their importance within this memoir.This quote reinforces my motive for presuming that repetition was a significant rhetorical choice for