Content Warning: The source text and this study guide discuss oppression, mental and physical control, wartime violence, addiction, suicide, and sexual abuse.

“In Penalty, one sits in the dark among shovels. One may talk. But cannot Speak. How could one? To enjoy the particular exhilaration of Speaking, one must be Pinioned. To the Speaking Wall.”

This early sentence from “Liberation Day” gives context to the dystopian setting of the story. The differentiation between “talk” and “Speak” suggests that the narrator sees the process of “Speaking”—when connected to the wall and under Mr. U’s control—as superior to any other form of communication. This reveals the extent of Jeremy’s brainwashing and oppression, whilst the quote also points to the violence of the system through the mention of a punishment: “Penalty.”

“Well, I love my work. I aspire to always be feeling more, thus Speaking with more gusto, thus evoking greater emotion in my listeners.”

Jeremy has been conditioned to enjoy and appreciate his work—which, ironically, involves enslavement and total control. This quote articulates Jeremy’s unwavering devotion to his job and Mr. Untermeyer and therefore foreshadows his decision to side with the oppressors later in the story.

“There are many of us who see this for the monstrous excess it is. You’re human beings. You are. Even if the world—even if my parents—seem to have forgotten it. But help is coming. It is. Soon.”

This is the first moment in the story in which a character points out the obvious barbarism of the Speaker system. Mike, Mr. Untermeyer’s son, makes this objection, thus putting into words Mr. Untermeyer’s system of enslavement. In this quote, Mike also foreshadows an upcoming day that is referenced in the story’s title: “Liberation Day.”