Language is presented in the film in two forms, one shown on the screen without narrative and one spoken by the characters. The first form is usually used to introduce important moments or turning points as well as the passage of time. For example, after a minister and his wife comes to the jail, the warden tells Chaplin that he is free, and instead of saying it, the sentence is shown on the screen that “Well, you’re a free man.” The audience can get the message right away and avoid a situation that they are not paying much attention to the spoken words because they fully concentrate on the music and the actions. The second form is mainly used at the beginning and the end of the film to show two different forms of spoken language. At the beginning, both the president, giving out orders to his workers, and the seller, introducing a new feeding machine, use spoken words with understandability and rationality. The audience can easily figure out the logic within their sentences and understand them immediately. However, when it comes to the ending when Chaplin sings, the logic is broken. The song is composed by random works with different languages, and the whole song is meaningless, but it turns out that people in the film like it so much, indicating that getting rid of formal structure sometimes allows people to create great piece of work.

Since it is a silent pantomime, besides the actions, audience focuses on music which plays important role in the film when it creates an atmosphere for each scene. For instance, when Chaplin and Goddard are traced by the police, the music changes rapidly to create an urgent feeling. Audience may not recognize this kind of effects while watching the film, and therefore are unconsciously influenced by it.

In addition to the effect of music, a silent pantomime makes audience focus on the actions and facial expressions of the characters more. Without distraction from spoken words, the core messages can be presented clearly to the audience who is able to receive and analyze the film with full attentions. In the film, Chaplin needs to marks down the time he goes to bathroom and does not have much time in it. The president can even see what he is doing inside, indicating the loss of privacy of the workers and the strict management used by the president or factories’ owners. Moreover, Chaplin is caught and sent to the jail because he is thought to be the leader of the strike when he holds a triangle flag, demonstrating the suppression from government to labor unity and the problem of justice system.