Unlistening

The voices of his mother and sisters, raised at times in eagerness or expectation of the future, fell upon his unlistening ears.

"Did you know, beloved, at the last, in that intolerable heat, in that moment of supreme anguish, that he is unlistening, unhelpful as the stars, that you cried not to him?"

Both have something important to say, but are hyperconscious of an unlistening world. They are disappointed, incredulous at humanity’s deafness.