Hurston’s warning also points to the everyday incentives that train people to hide suffering: fear of retaliation, disbelief, shame, or being labeled “difficult.” Even well-meaning listeners can prefer a tidy version of events, nudging the hurt person toward politeness and restraint rather than honest disclosure.
As a result, silence becomes a survival strategy that slowly turns into a trap. The longer pain is kept private, the harder it becomes to describe, and the more others interpret the absence of complaint as proof that nothing is wrong—or worse, that the situation is acceptable. [...]
