Sound and Fury

In Sound and Fury, two families had to deal with the difficulties of having a deaf child. One family was hearing and one family was completely deaf. However, the hearing family did have ties with the deaf community because the mother's parents were both deaf. The controversy in this movie was that one family wanted to give their child a cochlear implant and the other did not.

The hearing family wanted their child to grow up as normally as possible, and they thought the best way for them to do that would be to get their son a cochlear implant. They wanted him to have the implant because they felt their child would have way more opportunities in life if he could hear. They felt that deafness was a disability and if they could fix his disability, why wouldn't they? They knew what a struggle being deaf could be, through watching the mom's parents, and they didn't want their son to have to go through that. Seeing as the parents could hear, they knew what their son would miss out on, and they didn't want that. They also knew that deaf culture was shrinking due to advancing technology, and they didn't want their son to feel isolated or feel as if he didn't belong anywhere.

The deaf family questioned the cochlear implant and almost thought of it as a negative thing. The parents felt offended by it at times because they thought it would distance them from their children. Both of the parents grew up before the cochlear implant was available, and although they knew growing up had been a struggle, they felt their children could have opportunities and still be deaf. The deaf family was a part of the deaf culture and people from the deaf culture discourse don't think of their deafness as a disability. They've come to accept their deafness and are proud to be deaf.

People outside of the deaf culture questioned their decision not to give their children a cochlear implant and thought of them as being abusive parents. It was hard for hearing people to imagine deaf people not wanting to hear. I don't think the deaf parents fully realized how much easier life could be if they could hear, especially since most of the population has the ability to hear. The parents had never been able to hear so I don't think they fully realized the implications of not giving their children cochlear implants. They thought their children could be part of the deaf culture, like themselves, but they didn't take into account that the deaf culture is shrinking and will eventually be basically non existent due to all of the technology becoming available.