Eats, Shoots & Leaves
Lynne Truss' Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, is clearly intended to promote punctuation, as Truss "gives you permission to love punctuation± in a world approaching the point of illiteracy.± Truss' work provides a caustic statement regarding punctuation in modern society, and attempts to remedy this problem by providing an upbeat lesson in the subject. However, Truss' writing reveals the great paradox of the work: punctuation in excess can lead to a pompous and overbearing tone, thus proving to be counterproductive to the overall purpose of a given writing. For this reason, syntax and tone rather than punctuation serve as the primary vehicle for communicating ideas accurately. Lynne Truss prefaces the book by equating proficiency in punctuation with good manners in that they ease the way for others, without drawing attention to themselves± (Truss 7). In spite of this, Truss' excessive use of punctuation can seem very
arrogant, as if she is using it to assert her importance: What did become depressingly clear, however, was that my personal hunches about the state of the language were horribly correct: standards of punctuation in general in the UK are indeed approaching the point of illiteracy; self-justified philistines (Get a life!±) are truly in the driving seat of our culture; and a lot of well-educated sensitive people really have been weeping friendlessly in caves for the past few years, praying for someone ª anyone ª to write a book about punctuation with a panda on the cover. The author also presents herself to her readers c¤ particularly the American readers c¤ as condescending and out of touch with reality as she touches on a sensitive subject: We (sticklers) got very worked up after 9/11 not because of Osama bin-Laden but because people on the radio kept saying cenormity' when they meant cmagnitude', and we hate that± (Truss 27). (Truss xix) Truss' punctuation hubris has the potential to alienate readers as she bombards them with her endless arsenal of commas, semicolons, and dashes. Yet, Truss fails to use syntax to her advantage as she uses such words as cock-a-hoop± (Truss 93), which confuse the majority of her American audience. It is very important that a writer develop these qualities in their writing. Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. On the other hand, one's choice of words can do substantial damage. It becomes clear that one's choice of words can make or break a sentence, a passage, or even an entire work. Syntax can be much more useful in conveying a certain message than punctuation. The author clearly crosses the line and takes on the wrong tone when dealing with a subject as tragic as mass murder. (Winston Churchill 1939)In the preceding quote from Winston Churchill, it is his eloquent word choice that makes the quote so powerful. In addition, her excessive use of adverbs lend a superior tone to her writing throughout the novel. Lynne Truss' overuse of punctuation and her insensitive tone portray a sense of haughtiness, and can be detrimental to her argument. While correct punctuation is necessary, its misuse on both extremes can make clear communication difficult.
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