Gurth is accused, and sentenced to blindness, muteness, and leglessness. He has some physical defects, such as muteness, armlessness, and lameness. Silence, muteness and stuttering are motifs that run through much of Appelfeld's work. Anna is terrified into muteness, and Boris is buried without suspicion. The prince, annoyed at her muteness, took another bride. He doubts that God will act and his muteness is a sign and punishment. Hagen also insists that Angelou's years of muteness provided her with this skill. This punishment of muteness is referred to in the archivolt reliefs. Treatment or management of muteness depends on what has caused the absence of speech. In antiquity, the island was proverbial for the alleged muteness of its frogs. Muteness may not be a permanent condition, depending upon etiology (cause). Muteness is a speech disorder in which a person lacks the ability to speak.