YES and NO on hands

[Wendy]

When I saw the photograph of these words on the hands, I thought it was funny that they seemed more drawn on than tattooed. But looking back, I found the passage where it is explained that when Thomas lost his words, he went to a tattoo parlor and had YES written on the palm of one hand and NO on the other. Written, it says, not tattooed. This would fit another section where Thomas is crying and puts his hands to his face, then when he takes them down the words are seen on his cheeks backwards.

Just something interesting to me, wondered if anyone else noticed it and what you think it means.

[Colleen]

i noticed it...but didn't think about it til you did...maybe a tatoo would have been too permanent...what if he couldn't express that anymore either?

[Alison]

Why can't he just shake or nod his head?

[Zulfiya]

Alison wrote: "Why can't he just shake or nod his head?"

I think because he was a sculptor, hands were much more important than just a simple head yes/no nod/shake. Hands were virtually the continuation and the language of his creative soul.
Besides, not all body signs are universally interpreted in different cultures. But it is only my humble opinion.

[Stuart]

If you're going to worry so much about nodding or shaking your head not being perceived in other cultures then you've also got to worry about writing an English word on each hand. You'd have the same cultural/language drawbacks.

[Zulfiya]

Stuart wrote: "If you're going to worry so much about nodding or shaking your head not being perceived in other cultures then you've also got to worry about writing an English word on each hand. You'd have the sa..."

Stuart, what is your explanation of this self-imposed loss of linguistic abilities and a very limited vocabulary? I believe that he saw the world in its most fundamental embodiment and used the most polysemantic words to convey a myriad of meanings.

[Stuart]

I believe he just realised that he could answer the majority of questions either with a positive or negative (the basis of why the yes/no game is difficult to play).

I tend not to read much into the meanings behind things in the books I read though, so I doubt you'll find a challenging or interesting opinion in this comment. :)

[Sally]

I remember thinking that it was weird for the ink in a tattoo to rub of, but I didn't really consider that it wasn't a tattoo. I'm a little confused as to why he would have to go to a tattoo parlor to get something written, why not just do that yourself, or get someone closer to you to do it?