Breaking Your Silence

"The brooding Dwayne has one dream: To be a pilot and fly away from his parents in a U.S. Force jet. His dream is shot down, though, when he realizes he's colorblind and cannot be a pilot. Crushed, Dwayne at last breaks his self-inflicted vow of silence and takes his anger out on everyone else. With his family now at a loss for words, the Hoovers are left at a crossroads. However, through one little gesture, Olive casts a ray of sunshine on her gloomy brother, letting him know that his family always has his back."

- Rebecca Brayton on Dwayne Hoover breaking his silence on Watchmojo's Top 10 Sad Moments in Comedy Movies.

Just like in reality, in a story, when things are overwhelming and/or if you've been through a lot, it isn't enough keeping it to yourself. The time will come when you have to let it all out.

This is when the hero/heroine literally or metaphorically breaks his/her silence. Or, in other words, revealing what they haven't talked about for a long time and letting out their feelings, especially when they've been going through a great deal of pressure and/or are forced to keep what they're feeling to themselves.

The hero can break his silence when: This usually happens when the hero/heroine is exposed, reaches his/her breaking point, tells someone how he/she really feels, and/or reaches the point where he/she is crossing the road from childhood to adulthood.
 * Getting into an argument.
 * Revealing his/her backstory.
 * Telling someone the truth.
 * Calling someone out.

In other cases, the hero/heroine can break his/her Stockholm syndrome, calling out and standing up to his/her captive.

Film

 * As an adult, Chiron breaks his silence when he stands up to his mother for neglecting him.
 * Po does this twice - in the first film, when he argues with Shifu for not believing in him, and in the second film when he admits that he mistakenly let Lord Shen go because he was there the last time he saw his family.
 * Merida breaks her silence in front of her mother as she argues with her over her future and arranged marriage.
 * Rango breaks his silence when Rattlesnake Jake humiliates him in front of the townsfolk of Dirt, revealing that he was lying to them all along about being a hero just to fit in.
 * Dwayne Hoover literally breaks his vow of silence when he realizes he's color blind and can't be a pilot.
 * Charlie Watson breaks her silence, arguing with her mother about her family pretending the loss of her father never happened.
 * Ariel breaks her silence when she admits to her father that she loves Prince Eric during their confrontation.
 * Dracula breaks his silence in front of Mavis as he reveals that the village he took her to see wasn't real, as he built it and created the angry mob to scare her into staying in the hotel.
 * After returning home from running away, Riley Andersen finally breaks her silence, admitting that she misses her old home in San Francisco. To her surprise, her parents do the same thing, sharing their homesickness with her.
 * Belle breaks her silence as she calls out the Beast for his temper.
 * Rapunzel breaks her silence as she stands up to Mother Gothel for using her.
 * Daniel breaks his silence as he reveals to the court that he was cross-dressing just to be with his wife and kids.
 * Branch breaks his silence as he reveals that singing killed his grandma to Poppy.

Books

 * Sirius Black reveals that he didn't kill Harry Potter's parents; Peter Pettigrew betrayed them and framed him for the murder.
 * Dave Caros reveals to Solomon Gruber that he has to go back to the orphanage because the carving given to him by his father was stolen by Mr. Doom.

TV Shows

 * Phil Shortman breaks his silence as he finally admitted that he's scared of 6th Grade to his grandson, Arnold.

Quotes
"(Beast: Well, if YOU hadn't run away, this wouldn't have happened.) If you hadn't FRIGHTENED me, I wouldn't have run away! (Beast: Well, YOU shouldn't have been in the West WING!) Well, YOU should learn to control your temper!"

- Belle breaking her silence as she calls out the Beast for his attitude.

"(Shifu: You cannot leave! A REAL warrior never quits.) Watch me. (Po tries to go around Shifu, who pushes him back.) Come on! How am I supposed to beat Tai Lung? I can't even beat you to the stairs. (Shifu: You will beat him because YOU are the Dragon Warrior!) (He pokes Po's abdomen with his staff.) Ow! You don't believe that! You NEVER believed that. From the first moment I got here, you've been trying to get rid of me. (Shifu, knocking Po to the ground: Yes, I was. But now I ask you to trust in your master as I have come to trust in mine.) You're not my master. And I'm not the Dragon Warrior. (Shifu: Then why didn't you quit?! You knew I was trying to get rid of you, yet you stayed.) Yeah, I stayed. (Po manages to get up.) I stayed because every time you threw a brick at my head or said I smelled, it hurt. But it could never hurt more than it did every day of my life just being me. I stayed because I thought if anyone could change me, could make me...NOT me, it was YOU. The greatest kung fu teacher in all of China! (Shifu: But I CAN change you! I CAN turn you into the Dragon Warrior! And I WILL!) Come on! Tai Lung's on his way here right now. And even if it takes him a hundred years to get here, how are YOU gonna change THIS...(indicates belly) into the Dragon Warrior?! Huh?! (Shifu's eyes grow wide with surprise.) How? How?! HOW?! (Shifu: I DON'T KNOW! (sighs) I don't know.) (Po sighs.) That's what I thought."

- Po breaking his silence as he argues with Shifu.

"I...I know you don't want me to, but...I miss home. I miss Minnesota. You need me to be happy, but I want my old friends and my hockey team. I wanna go home."

- Riley Andersen breaking her silence and admitting to her parents that she misses the home where she made her childhood memories.

"(Paula: You gonna listen.) To WHO, Ma? Huh? To YOU?"

- Chiron breaking his silence.

"I spent my entire life hiding from people who would use me for my powers... (Mother Gothel: Rapunzel!) ...when I should have been hiding from YOU!"

- Rapunzel breaking her silence as she finally realizes he's the lost princess and Mother Gothel's true evil intentions towards her.

"This whole marriage is what YOU want. Do you ever bother to ask what I want? No! You walk around telling me what to do, what NOT to do, trying to make me be like YOU. Well, I'm not going to be like you!"

- Merida breaking her silence during her argument with her mother.

"(Sally: Everyone in this family is trying to be happy. And all you wanna do is make things harder!) You know, Mom, just because YOU'VE moved on and YOU'RE happy with your new life doesn't mean I have! YOU found a replacement for my dad, and I haven't, okay, and I never will! So I'm sorry if that makes things better! But in ten months from now, you'll...won't have to deal with me!"

- Charlie Watson breaking her silence as she argues with her mother about her family's decision to keep their mouths shut about the loss of her father.