Silence speaks the scene

• silence → there are a number of enigmatic silences throughout FW: FW 014.06, FW 334.31, FW 501.06; also FW 031.32, FW 061.01, FW 074.09, FW 075.18, FW 083.04, FW 098.02, FW 115.25, FW 193.11, FW 203.21, FW 230.23, FW 235.07, FW 267.17, FW 280.30, FW 337.17, FW 378.32, FW 382.14, FW 393.35, FW 452.20, FW 476.08, FW 548.34, FW 557.12, FW 565.15, FW 570.03, FW 627.10; cf. Revelation 8:1: "And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour"
  • Third Census of Finnegans Wake

• seen

• make a scene: to create a disturbance → Joyce originally wrote: A silence makes a scene.
  • A First-Draft Version of Finnegans Wake

Commentary

In this section Joyce contrasts what is heard with what is seen. In FW some characters have a good eye and a poor ear while others have poor eyesight but good hearing. HCE's name contains the word ear (but is his "ear weaker" – Earwicker?), while Shem, like his alter ego James Joyce, has poor eyesight. Issy is sometimes characterized throughout the book by her "eyes" (-ii-), and spends much of her time looking at herself in the mirror.