Quote Analysis

As dawn breaks and the watch ends, Horatio proposes that they tell Hamlet about the Ghost, predicting that the spirit will speak to the prince even though it stayed silent with them.

Horatio's certainty that the Ghost 'will speak to him' assumes a special bond between Hamlet and the apparition—one based on kinship, since it resembles Hamlet's father. The phrase 'dumb to us' emphasizes the guards' exclusion: they are witnesses but not participants. By assigning Hamlet this unique access, Horatio sets him apart as the only one who can unlock the Ghost's message, which isolates Hamlet even before he appears on stage.

Use this to argue that the play establishes Hamlet as isolated by destiny before we meet him—Horatio's prediction that only Hamlet can make the Ghost speak marks the prince as uniquely burdened, cut off from the collective experience of others.