---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For answer Mr Flay shot his head forward…"
description: "\"“For answer Mr Flay shot his head forward out of his collar and croaked, ‘Silence! you kitchen thing. Hold your tongue you greasy fork.”\" — Mervyn Peake"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df8/mervyn-peake-2927_hold-your-tongue_for-answer-mr-flay-shot-his-head-forward_3110270.png"
---

#  For answer Mr Flay shot his head forward out of his collar…

![“For answer Mr Flay shot his head forward out of his collar and croaked, ‘Silence! you kitchen thing. Hold your tongue you greasy fork.” quote by Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df8/mervyn-peake-2927_hold-your-tongue_for-answer-mr-flay-shot-his-head-forward_3110270.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df8/mervyn-peake-2927_hold-your-tongue_for-answer-mr-flay-shot-his-head-forward_3110270.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df8/mervyn-peake-2927_hold-your-tongue_for-answer-mr-flay-shot-his-head-forward_3110270.png)

> ““For answer Mr Flay shot his head forward out of his collar and croaked, ‘Silence! you kitchen thing. Hold your tongue you greasy fork.””

[Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

A character forcefully silences a noisy presence, using vivid metaphor to assert control over chaos.

**In simple terms:** He tells the noisy thing to be quiet.

Key Takeaway

Assert authority over disruptive noise.

Themes

authority conflict language metaphor

Mood

defiant dramatic

Type

literary dialogue

When to use this quote

- office disputes
- family arguments
- public speaking
- online debates

Key Concepts

power dynamics assertion symbolic language

Questions to Reflect On

- How does vivid language affect persuasion?
- When is forceful silence appropriate?

A Different Perspective

The metaphor may obscure the literal meaning for some readers.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Hold your tongue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hold-your-tongue/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/)

## Related quotes

> [“Yet here apparently on this stifling summer afternoon was the eye of Mr. Flay at the outer keyhole of the Hall of the Bright…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/yet-here-apparently-on-this-stifling-summer-afternoon-was-the-eye-of/)

[Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/)

> [The best time for you to hold your tongue is the time you feel you must say something or bust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/the-best-time-for-you-to-hold-your-tongue-is-the-time-you-feel-you/)

[Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/)

> [The primary virtue is: hold your tongue; who knows how to keep quiet is close to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cato-the-younger/the-primary-virtue-is-hold-your-tongue-who-knows-how-to-keep-quiet-is/)

[Cato the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cato-the-younger/)

> [I love hip-hop, because you can do this like that and still be super successful! You ain't gotta hold your tongue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/busta-rhymes/i-love-hip-hop-because-you-can-do-this-like-that-and-still-be-super-2/)

[Busta Rhymes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/busta-rhymes/)

> [“Hold your tongue and live your life, for it is in the way that you live that you speak the loudest.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/hold-your-tongue-and-live-your-life-for-it-is-in-the-way-that-you/)

[Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/)

> [“Evil does not exist; once you have crossed the threshold, all is good. Once in another world, you must hold your tongue.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/evil-does-not-exist-once-you-have-crossed-the-threshold-all-is-good/)

[Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/)

> [Life can be harsh. But it matters little. What matters is how well you hold your tongue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-can-be-harsh-but-it-matters-little-what-matters-is-how-well-you/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“If it's painful for you to criticize your friends, you're safe in doing it; if you take the slightest pleasure in it, that's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-duer-miller/if-it-s-painful-for-you-to-criticize-your-friends-you-re-safe-in/)

[Alice Duer Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-duer-miller/)

> [“Sometimes it is best to hold your tongue and walk away so bitterness will not depart from your lips and defile you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaeeshia-ratcliff-davis/sometimes-it-is-best-to-hold-your-tongue-and-walk-away-so-bitterness/)

[VaeEshia Ratcliff-Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaeeshia-ratcliff-davis/)

> [Never hold anyone by the button or the hand in order to be heard out; for if people are unwilling to hear you, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/never-hold-anyone-by-the-button-or-the-hand-in-order-to-be-heard-out/)

[Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/)

> [“Master Andry," pursued Jean Jehan, still clinging to his capital, "hold your tongue, or I'll drop on your head!" Master Andry raised his eyes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/master-andry-pursued-jean-jehan-still-clinging-to-his-capital-hold/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I love hip-hop, because you can do this like that and still be super successful! You aint gotta hold your tongue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/busta-rhymes/i-love-hip-hop-because-you-can-do-this-like-that-and-still-be-super/)

[Busta Rhymes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/busta-rhymes/)

> [I went through an evolutionary process of learning to have a voice and how to use it, knowing when to step in. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simu-liu/i-went-through-an-evolutionary-process-of-learning-to-have-a-voice/)

[Simu Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simu-liu/)

> [For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/for-god-s-sake-hold-your-tongue-and-let-me-love/)

[John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/)

> [“Ever the charmer, eh, Braden? (Sin) Hold your tongue, Sin. (Braden) I would, but with my luck, one of your giant Scottish bugs would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kinley-macgregor/ever-the-charmer-eh-braden-sin-hold-your-tongue-sin-braden-i-would/)

[Kinley MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kinley-macgregor/)

## More by Mervyn Peake

> [Gormenghast, that is, the main massing of the original stone, taken by itself would have displayed a certain ponderous architectural quality were it possible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/gormenghast-that-is-the-main-massing-of-the-original-stone-taken-by/)

[Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/)

> [Through her, in microcosm, the wide earth sobbed. The starglobe sank in her; the colours faded. The death-dew rose and the wild birds in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/through-her-in-microcosm-the-wide-earth-sobbed-the-starglobe-sank-in/)

[Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/)

> [“Behind him she saw something which by contrast with the alien incalculable figure before her, was close and real. It was something which she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/behind-him-she-saw-something-which-by-contrast-with-the-alien/)

[Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/)

> [“If seeing her an hour before her last Weak cough into all blackness I could yet Be held by chalk-white walls - The Consumptive.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/if-seeing-her-an-hour-before-her-last-weak-cough-into-all-blackness-i/)

[Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/)

> [“He knew that he was caught up in one of those stretches of time when for anything to happen normally would be abnormal. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/he-knew-that-he-was-caught-up-in-one-of-those-stretches-of-time-when/)

[Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/)

> [“Would you be so kind as to remove your redundant carcass from the door of this room, my man,’ he said, in his high,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/would-you-be-so-kind-as-to-remove-your-redundant-carcass-from-the/)

[Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/)

> [What is Time... That you speak of it so subserviently? Are we to be the slaves of the sun, that second-hand, overrated knob of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/what-is-time-that-you-speak-of-it-so-subserviently-are-we-to-be-the/)

[Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/)

> [“He could now inhabit the world of words, with, at the back of his melancholy, a solace he had not known before”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/he-could-now-inhabit-the-world-of-words-with-at-the-back-of-his/)

[Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/)

> [“He had emptied the bright goblet of romance; at a single gulp he had emptied it. The glass of it lay scattered on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/he-had-emptied-the-bright-goblet-of-romance-at-a-single-gulp-he-had/)

[Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/)

> [“I want a big breakfast," said Fuchsia at last. "I want a lot to eat, I'm going to think today.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/i-want-a-big-breakfast-said-fuchsia-at-last-i-want-a-lot-to-eat-i-m/)

[Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/)

> [“Before it had awoke to die on the instant of its waking, a score of bells and clocks had shouted midday and for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/before-it-had-awoke-to-die-on-the-instant-of-its-waking-a-score-of/)

[Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/)

> [“Gormenghast. Withdrawn and ruinous it broods in umbra: the immemorial masonry: the towers, the tracts. Is all corroding? No. Through an avenue of spires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/gormenghast-withdrawn-and-ruinous-it-broods-in-umbra-the-immemorial/)

[Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/)

> [“I do not understand your love,' he said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/i-do-not-understand-your-love-he-said/)

[Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/)

> [ \[Peake's books\] are actual additions to life; they give, like certain rare dreams, sensations we never had before, and enlarge our conception of the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/peake-s-books-are-actual-additions-to-life-they-give-like-certain/)

[Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/)

> [Why break the heart that never beat from love?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/why-break-the-heart-that-never-beat-from-love/)

[Mervyn Peake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/)

[Explore all 143 Mervyn Peake quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/)

## More Hold your tongue quotes

> [“The footman burst in, announcing, 'Monsieur le Duc de ---.' 'Hold your tongue, you fool,' said the Duke as he entered the room. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-footman-burst-in-announcing-monsieur-le-duc-de-hold-your-tongue/)

[Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/)

> [The best time for you to hold your tongue is the time you feel you must say something or bust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/the-best-time-for-you-to-hold-your-tongue-is-the-time-you-feel-you/)

[Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/)

> [For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/for-god-s-sake-hold-your-tongue-and-let-me-love/)

[John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/)

> [I went through an evolutionary process of learning to have a voice and how to use it, knowing when to step in. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simu-liu/i-went-through-an-evolutionary-process-of-learning-to-have-a-voice/)

[Simu Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simu-liu/)

> [“And what is a friend? More than a father, more than a brother: a traveling companion, with him, you can conquer the impossible, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/and-what-is-a-friend-more-than-a-father-more-than-a-brother-a/)

[Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/)

> [I love hip-hop, because you can do this like that and still be super successful! You aint gotta hold your tongue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/busta-rhymes/i-love-hip-hop-because-you-can-do-this-like-that-and-still-be-super/)

[Busta Rhymes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/busta-rhymes/)

> [“Master Andry," pursued Jean Jehan, still clinging to his capital, "hold your tongue, or I'll drop on your head!" Master Andry raised his eyes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/master-andry-pursued-jean-jehan-still-clinging-to-his-capital-hold/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Never hold anyone by the button or the hand in order to be heard out; for if people are unwilling to hear you, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/never-hold-anyone-by-the-button-or-the-hand-in-order-to-be-heard-out/)

[Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/)

> [“Sometimes it is best to hold your tongue and walk away so bitterness will not depart from your lips and defile you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaeeshia-ratcliff-davis/sometimes-it-is-best-to-hold-your-tongue-and-walk-away-so-bitterness/)

[VaeEshia Ratcliff-Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaeeshia-ratcliff-davis/)

> [“Hardly had the light been extinguished, when a peculiar trembling began to affect the netting under which the three children lay. It consisted of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/hardly-had-the-light-been-extinguished-when-a-peculiar-trembling/)

[Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/)

> [“If it's painful for you to criticize your friends, you're safe in doing it; if you take the slightest pleasure in it, that's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-duer-miller/if-it-s-painful-for-you-to-criticize-your-friends-you-re-safe-in/)

[Alice Duer Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-duer-miller/)

> [Life can be harsh. But it matters little. What matters is how well you hold your tongue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-can-be-harsh-but-it-matters-little-what-matters-is-how-well-you/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“She looks exactly like a—like a gimlet." Marilla smothered a smile under the conviction that Anne must be reproved for such a speech. "A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/she-looks-exactly-like-a-like-a-gimlet-marilla-smothered-a-smile/)

[L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/)

> [“Evil does not exist; once you have crossed the threshold, all is good. Once in another world, you must hold your tongue.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/evil-does-not-exist-once-you-have-crossed-the-threshold-all-is-good/)

[Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/)

> [“Hold your tongue and live your life, for it is in the way that you live that you speak the loudest.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/hold-your-tongue-and-live-your-life-for-it-is-in-the-way-that-you/)

[Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/)

[Browse all 36 Hold your tongue quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hold-your-tongue/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“For answer Mr Flay shot his head forward out of his collar and croaked, ‘Silence! you kitchen thing. Hold your tongue you greasy fork.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Mervyn Peake"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/for-answer-mr-flay-shot-his-head-forward-out-of-his-collar-and/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Hold your tongue"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/for-answer-mr-flay-shot-his-head-forward-out-of-his-collar-and/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df8/mervyn-peake-2927_hold-your-tongue_for-answer-mr-flay-shot-his-head-forward_3110270.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df8/mervyn-peake-2927_hold-your-tongue_for-answer-mr-flay-shot-his-head-forward_3110270.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df8/mervyn-peake-2927_hold-your-tongue_for-answer-mr-flay-shot-his-head-forward_3110270.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“For answer Mr Flay shot his head forward out of his collar and croaked, ‘Silence! you kitchen thing. Hold…” — Mervyn Peake",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Mervyn Peake",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mervyn-peake/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“For answer Mr Flay shot his...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/for-answer-mr-flay-shot-his-head-forward-out-of-his-collar-and/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mervyn-peake/for-answer-mr-flay-shot-his-head-forward-out-of-his-collar-and/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```