War is what happens when language fails.

When words stop reaching each other

Most of us think of war as a failure of politics or military strategy, but Atwood points to something more fundamental: the collapse of our ability to communicate what we actually mean. When people stop listening to each other—when they stop trying to translate their needs into words the other side might understand—conflict becomes inevitable. It's the moment conversation dies.

You see this pattern everywhere, not just in international conflicts. In a marriage that ends bitterly, there's usually a point where one person stops trying to explain themselves and starts assuming the worst about their partner's motives. In workplaces, teams splinter when people give up on clarifying what they actually want and just start protecting their territory. Even arguments on social media follow this arc: once people stop believing the other side is worth understanding, language becomes just a weapon to deploy, not a bridge to cross.

The unsettling part is how quickly this happens. You don't need a formal declaration for language to fail—you just need exhaustion, hurt feelings, or the quiet decision that understanding isn't worth the effort anymore. Which means preventing conflict isn't really about having better weapons or policies; it's about keeping the harder, slower work of communication alive, even when it feels pointless.