When All the Broken Pieces begins, Matt fears words and the power they possess. He’s afraid to share his memories of Vietnam with his adoptive parents, or even to express his fear that his family might give him away. Although the cruel words of other boys on the baseball team “hit [Matt] / like a punch” (47), he chooses not to fight back with words or tell an authority figure what’s going on. As Matt puts it, “words spill out / like splattered blood […] leaving stains / that won’t come out” (129)—and in an effort to avoid pain and conflict, Matt avoids words as well. However, as the novel continues, Matt learns he must find the courage to use words, to communicate, in order to truly overcome his own pain.

In the early portion of the novel, the author often presents words as a tool of violence, something Matt distrusts and does his best to evade. Matt overhears his father talking about the Vietnam vets who made such great sacrifices, only to return to a home where “people throw things— / tomatoes, / rotten apples, / angry words” (7). While Matt isn’t a soldier, he is also a reminder of Vietnam and the pain it has caused for so many, and as such, he is also the target of violent words.