This week in class, we had to sign up to read and present a specific letter from the “Letters of Note” list.
When initially choosing a letter, I didn’t put much thought into it. The list was so long that I chose the first title that caught my eye: “What Did You Say? I Can’t Hear You” written by Katharine Hepburn to her late husband Spencer Tracy around 1985. Upon reading this letter, I realized why it made it onto the list. “What Did You Say? I Can’t Hear You” by Katharine Hepburn was so beautifully written that it ended up really making an impact on me.
On June 10th, 1967, the Hollywood star, Spencer Tracy died. 18 years later, his wife, Katharine Hepburn wrote him this letter. The letter mainly consists of Katherine looking back on her relationship with Spencer, and reflecting on the kind of person he was. Throughout the letter, she asks Spencer many questions about things she never understood about him, like why he could never sleep at night, and why he couldn’t see himself like she saw him. Towards the end of the letter, Katherine touches on her final question for Spencer, which is why he had such an admiration or longing for death. Katherine ends the letter with the quote: “Well you said on this subject: Never safe until you’re 7 feet underground. But why the escape hatch? Why was it always opened- to get away from the remarkable you? What was it Spence? I meant to ask you. Did you know what it was? What did you say? I can’t hear you…” I thought this was such a clever way to end the letter. Katherine reflects on a comment Spencer used to make: “Never safe until you’re 7 feet underground”, and she wonders, why was that door to death always open? Why was death always on his mind? I think she ends the letter with such an ambiguous quote “What did you say? I can’t hear you…” to signify that as much as she wishes for Spencer to respond these questions, she will never be able to actually hear his answers.
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