The Silence of the Palace

In the movie “The Silence of the Palace”, there was a heavy emphasis on the effects that silence has on women in North Africa. This silence effected the ways in which women were treated, specifically in this palace that the main woman in this movie grew up in as the daughter of a servant there. These women were sexually abused and forced to get abortions. They were told to be silent except when spoken too. They were treated terribly and their silence represented the acceptance of the way they lived their lives and/or the fact that they believed they could live no better way.
The idea of silence and its importance reminded me of Macharey and what he said about silence being significant. He said that what is not said is sometimes more important than what is said. Those who do not speak sometimes have more control than those who do. With silence there is less room for mistakes. People cannot use words you have said against you. The motto in the palace was if you are silent you are safe and taken care of. However, I would not say that these women were safe by any means. Even though they were doing their part and serving the men of the house while keeping quiet, they were still used for sexual entertainment and forced to go through painful procedures in order to kill children that were growing inside of them, which they did not have the choice to keep if they wanted too. Women died because of these procedures and/or lived their life with pain and regret. But because of their silence, these things kept happening to them. This makes me believe that silence in this case was not a good idea, but still very significant.