The Sound in the Storm and the New Orthodox View Critics have offered varying assessments of the characters in William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Some consider Prospero to be magnanimous for forgiving his enemies, for freeing Ariel from the confines of a tree, and for treating Caliban with great sympathy until the monster's attempted rape of Miranda. Others see Prospero as an oppressive colonizer and view Caliban and Ariel as his innocent and abused subjects. In his article “Reading The Tempest,” Russ McDonald argues that the new orthodox interpretation of The Tempest, “which exalts the colonized, is as narrow as the old one, which idealizes and excuses the colonizer” (117). He argues that the actual status of the characters is considerably more ambiguous, and he supports his view by analyzing the rhetorical devices present in the play. However, a careful examination of the different sounds broadcast throughout the work, notably speech, silence and music, tends to support a less ambiguous vision of the characters. Indeed, this tends to support the new orthodox view that Prospero is an oppressive colonizer, as he often threatens his enemies and servants with unpleasant sounds and demands silence from others, including his daughter. The play begins with the crew of a ship being subjected to terrifying sounds that Prospero has ordered Ariel to produce. The sounds are all loud: “whistling,” “storm,” “cry,” “thunderclaps,” “fire and cracking,” and “roar” (1.1.7, 14; 1.2.203-5; 2.1.2) . The terror that these noises and the storm that accompanies them inflict on the sailors is attested by their cries: "All lost! Prayers! Prayers! All lost!" (1.1.52). The infliction of these sounds also appears unfair when Miranda pleads with her father, “If…you have / Put these wild waters into this roar, still them.” / . . . O, the cry struck / Against my heart. Poor souls, they have perished! » (2.1.1-9). Indeed, Prospero often refers to unpleasant sounds as a means of threatening others. “I will torment them all, / Even to the roar,” he says of Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano (4.1.188-214). When Prospero believes that Ariel is not providing eager and willing service, he threatens the spirit with imprisonment in a tree, reminding Ariel that when he was previously trapped, his "wails/made the wolves howl" (1.2 .289-90). Prospero also tells him: “You have howled twelve winters” (1.2.298). Likewise, Prospero threatens Caliban, carrying out his threats and subjecting the monster to torture accompanied by unpleasant sounds..