Just Listen uses a lot of symbolism. For instance, when most people think
of silence they think of laying peacefully on a beach or a place where no one
speaks at all, but in this story silence stands for so much more than that. The
main symbolism in this story, believe it or not, is silence. It uses silence to
symbolize loudness, the things in our lives that are uncertain or incomplete,
the things that keep us awake at night, or the things that keep our focus away
from the beautiful things in life. Multiple times during the book Owen says,
"Silence is so freaking loud." They were not just using that line as an oxymoron;
they were using it as symbolism. It is true that sometimes we just need to let
things out, but sometimes it is just way too hard. We just let it build up inside
of us until we cannot take it anymore. Then in the silence that is all we hear,
and we just let it out. It also symbolizes the fact that silence can speak louder
than words. When Sophie would not talk to Annabel she constantly thought
about why Sophie was not talking to her. Those thoughts built up, and the
silence hurt more than if Sophie would have just told her why she did not want
to talk to her anymore. Who ever knew that silence could be so loud, but this
story clearly shows it.