Broken

 broken adjective

/ˈbrəʊkən/

damaged

1 * that has been damaged or injured; no longer whole or working correctly

If we are to work with Oxford as the authority on definitions, then the above sets our standard for the word. Being an adjective the word is treated to more flexibility in use than the workhorse nouns and verbs. Of course nouns and verbs do the majority of heavy lifting in any tongue, while adjectives are more like the decorative trim on a motor vehicle. Even articles and prepositions have more utility. The subject adjective in this instance is of great value in describing the state of a thing. Let us explore some examples.

There are broken toys, broken windows, broken pipes. A missing wheel from a toy train; jagged glass surrounding a frame; water spraying beneath a sink, these are all clear, outward physical signs that these things are no longer whole. They are quite visibly in a state of disrepair. Wheeled axles, window frames and basic plumbing are all pretty simple things, all rooted in universally understood science. Broken in this sense is a quality easily measured by an empirical standard.

There is also broken ground, likewise measurable by visual observation. When ground is broken for a site it is ceremoniously marked by the first spade of dirt to be turned, usually by some suit who has to puzzle for a moment which end of the tool to use. If one is to pass by a site where it is said "they have broken ground", it is an expectation that mounds of dirt, hard hats and heavy equipment will abound. These are all clear indicators of the state of the site. This application of the adjective actually gives birth to yet another: groundbreaking.

Discoveries within a given field may be groundbreaking. These discoveries in turn lead to new technologies, which may likewise be referred to as groundbreaking. Groundbreaking as an adjective also describes the state of a thing, though it is then in a more metaphoric sense. The discovery or new process is groundbreaking for it's field, rendering it to the equivalent state of a construction site that has just "broken ground". It is placed at a (new) beginning. 

There is broken in the sense of broken English (or insert the language of your choice). Mi habla broken Espanglish. The sincere yet still comical rendering of language by a non-fluent speaker. Within context the meaning is clear, though it is not literal. A literal description of the state of such a thing would be to say that it is poorly delivered, or confused, hard to understand; not actually broken, just not working very well. Anything less than that we could more easily refer to as gibberish.

Well, now we shall progress to the more abstract adjectival usage of the word broken. Most of these, whether through personal experience or vicariously, will be familiar. There are broken hearts and broken promises, the former most often being associated with the latter. A promise is broken as a contract is broken, for what is a promise but an oral contract? A contract is broken the moment that any party thereto should feel aggrieved by any breach thereof, real or imagined. These are not physical things, thus they may not be literally broken; however, they are quite easily described as being in such a state since they no longer "work" as agreed. This is only as pertains to promises or contracts. The heart is another matter still.

The Broken Heart. It deserves capitalization. The French elevate it to the mellifluous Creve Couer; where the Germans may only muster Herz Schmerz. Pop music and romance novels would be on life support were it not for the ubiquitous broken heart. Broken hearts are indeed hard to mend, as any to have known it will attest, but they are not always plain to see. For those who know what to look for the subtle signs are there. The starry gaze in unguarded moments; the wistful sighs watching the joy of others and the quiet withdrawal from most social situations. One has to look for a broken heart, except of course where hearts are worn on sleeves. It isn't a matter where one can look upon the organ itself and see the damage. If we're being honest it's really more of a mental problem that is manifest emotionally. A civilization's worth of bards and poets will disagree. And who am I to contend with that?

Somewhat related... the broken marriage. All that ever need be said on the subject of marriage is to be found in Anna Karenina, Part the first, chapter one:

"All happy families resemble one another; every unhappy family is unhappy in it's own way.

Statistically most marriages are destined to be broken. The odds are really not good. This happens for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which being that most should never have happened to begin with. A polling of divorcees will overwhelmingly support that proposition. One still often hears the lament for broken marriage as a social ill, though it is voiced more for the broken state of the institution of marriage. It is again not a physical thing as to be broken in a physical sense. A broken marriage is simply the end of a formal partnership. 

It is the frequent nature of these partnerships to bear their progeny as a fruit of the union. In traditional parlance these are known as families, and it is precisely where the broken marriage manifests another phenomena: the broken home. If expressed as a social ill I suspect that it is the broken home which is more problematic than broken marriage. The broken home is not literally a demolished or merely damaged structure. It is a division of a family. It needn't always be a net negative, but is always an added burden to what is already the herculean task of rearing children. 

While they may be considered more commonplace today, broken homes are not a completely new phenomena. It has happened with regularity throughout human history. Surely not all products of broken homes are destined to turn out badly, though they admittedly have a rougher go of it than those from "traditional" families. We would all do well to remember that some of history's most sadistic killers came from perfectly "normal" families.

There are more still. We have broken faith. And broken trust. The two, while similar, are not the same. 

Faith can be a form of trust, indeed, but faith is more about confidence. It is not proof based; rather, it is at it's most basic wishful thinking. Faith surrounds ideas for which we can hold no tangible proof, yet will still try to will them into being. It's a powerful exercise in positive affirmation and not to be discounted for it's therapeutic value. It is not a physical thing to be broken in a physical sense, yet it may surely be broken.

We place our faith in an institution, meaning that we have confidence in that institution to perform as intended. When this confidence is betrayed then faith has been broken. Trust is a part of this, but broken trust is broader than that.

A trust in something can be broken, but the broken trust I mean to address here is the break down in trust generally speaking. Our very ability to trust is broken. It is not a physical thing to be broken in a physical sense, yet it is truly shattered. We gather up the shards of our shattered trust in bandaged hands, wanting desperately to stab at something without cutting ourselves. We can no longer trust each other. We are continually set upon one another, the seeds of mistrust and suspicion sown and nurtured daily in a digital garden, brought to us under the kind auspices of your friendly neighborhood multi-national pharmaceutical company. 

There is no more trust in authority. There is little more trust in the "Church", as an institution; not any Faith specifically. Men and women are in a state of a heavily armed and nervous truce. One can not trust most of what is heard, and with the Pyrrhic wonders of AI one can not even trust what is seen. Professor Tom Lehrer is still right after so many years. The blacks hate the whites; the whites hate the blacks.... and if you're still following the script, "everyone (still) hates the Jews". Where is there trust in any of this milieu? 

There are other examples of broken I might cite here, but I will conclude with this one. Broken system. We have all surely heard this many times, cried out from many voices, "the system is broken". Well friends, where it concerns you or I, just us common folk, I will agree. The system is broken. But it isn't.

This "system" is operating precisely as it is meant to by the ones driving the machine. You or I do not know any of these people, just as surely as not a single one them gives a rat's ass about anyone but themselves. And their set. Which, incidentally does not include you or I. Probably neither of us even knows anyone who knows someone, who knows someone else who knows one of those people. Maybe. Not likely.

What is really broken is us. We, the people, are broken. Among the numerous idiomatic expressions of the word broken offered in the Oxford dictionary there is this one:  2. (of a person) having given up all hope; despairing, "he went to his grave a broken man". A person is a physical thing and may be broken in a physical sense. By extension a people are also physical things that may be broken in the physical sense. Broken, in this sense, does not actually refer to the physical state of the thing. It does not describe the human body rendered as a pile of broken bones and pulped flesh. Here broken refers to the breaking of one's will, a broken spirit rather than a broken body.

A person is a physical being, which may certainly be broken in the physical sense. But a person is a physical being possessed of a spirit. Any living being is animated by this spirit. The presence of this spirit, more than any physical measure that can be applied, is what makes a thing a living being. When the physical body is broken one can see the damage. A broken spirit may not be seen with the eyes, yet it may be known nonetheless.

We may be able to fix the broken toy. Perhaps not always a restoration of the whole, but enough repair that it may remain a toy rather than garbage. A broken window may be fixed by replacing the broken  pane of glass. It is no longer the same, but it is restored as a whole window. Likewise with a broken pipe. The damaged or malfunctioning part may be replaced with new and the leakage stopped.

Broken promises and broken hearts may not be unbroken. A broken heart may be repaired with time, but remains forever scarred. Broken marriages and broken homes may be healed or repaired, though the prognosis is generally poor. These things may happen, but usually don't. Broken faith and broken trust, like the broken heart, may not be unbroken. They may, with time, be repaired, but never restored to whole. They are left forever scarred with doubt.

What then of the broken spirit? Can it be unbroken?May it, with time, also be healed? I don't know the answer to this. The dwindling optimist in me wants to say that, yes, it can. But I have doubts. The start of this healing comes only with an acknowledgement of the spirit. After that who knows what might happen? I am not certain if there are answers to these questions, but I will keep searching. I would encourage all of you to do the same.