Have you ever thought of murdering your sibling after an argument? Or does that seem a bit too extreme? Perhaps too understandable? Sisters! There is no greater bond like that of sisters, and even more so if they are twin sisters. Twins are fascinating, and the Gibbons twins, Jennifer and June, were no exception. The Gibbons twins’ closeness and companionship was startling to say the least, but their gift of having each other eventually turned into a curse.
Jennifer and June Gibbons were born on April 11, 1963, in Barbados, to Gloria and Aubrey Gibbons, and they grew up in Havenfordwest, Wales.1 Like most twins, the girls shared a tight bond; but their bond was even stronger than most. They only spoke to each other, using the few words that they knew. This characteristic of their relationship is what gave them the label Silent Twins. In their small town, they were the only black children in their school, which consequently led to their being bullied because of their race. These experiences only intensified their avoidance of communicating with anyone outside of their unique duo, which, according to the New Yorker journalist Hilton Als, “led to their emotional exile, their institutionalization, and…to the misguided appropriation of their story by activists and theorists who used it to pose questions about the nature of identity and the strange birthright that twins are forced to bear.”2
Soon after suffering from the bullying, the twins cut themselves off from others even further. They only spoke to each other in a unique language only they understood, and they began to refuse to do any school work or show any signs of productivity. The family then chose to move to Wales, and when the girls were enrolled in a school near the Haverfordwest community, which was known for intense racism, the bullying grew severe.3 From taunting them to pulling their hair, their schoolmates terrorized the girls constantly. Consequently, the sisters’ behavior grew to be even more odd, from synchronized walking to mirroring one another’s actions, as if they were the same person.4 Thereafter, a school nurse became intrigued with the sisters. School physician John Reed came to vaccinate the students, and upon giving June and Jennifer their shots, he noted that the girls did not even flinch. They just stood there lifeless. The nurse then reported this to the school. The school had been familiar with the strange behavior the girls were constantly exhibiting. Therefore, the sisters were sent to Haverfordwest Withybush Hospital in February 1977 for examination.5 Upon arriving at the hospital, the girls continued to not speak to anyone but to each other. The girls were then transferred to East Gate Special Education Center, which served as a boarding school. While at the center, Jennifer and June continued to isolate themselves. Consequently, they were separated in hopes of having the girls become independent from each other. Jennifer remained at East Gate, while June was sent thirty miles away to St. David’s Adolescent Unit. This had disastrous effects on the girls to the point of them becoming catatonic, where they would not eat or sleep until they were reunited.
When the girls turned sixteen, they were sent back home, where they spent several years refraining from interacting with anyone other than eachother. They used writing as a form of entertainment and found great passion in it. Eventually, the girls would enroll in a writing program as one person, hoping to become famous novelists. Their novels were never recognized, which fairly disappointed the girls. Upon turning eighteen, the sisters finally left their rooms and began a downward spiral from doing drugs to committing crimes and abusing one another. They were arrested after breaking a window and lighting a fire at a community college. Consequently, they were sent to Puckle Church Remand Center, where they stayed for seven months. While there, the girls wrote diaries about how much they hated each other and were scared of each other. In their diaries, they wrote about how lonely they were, but once reunited, they reverted to hating each other once again. They were diagnosed with psychopathic personality disorder, and were sent to Broadmoor Mental Hospital, where they were seen as very disturbed and violent. Eventually, after eleven years at Broadmoor, they were transferred to Caswell Clinic, another mental hospital.
At that time, the journalist Marjorie Wallace had become interested in the girls and began studying them. Jennifer had admitted to Wallace that she had to die in order for June to survive and thrive. The girls mentioned to Wallace that the day of their transfer would be the day Jennifer would have to die.6 They believed that they could not both function properly at the same time, while both of them were still living. This was the underlying cause for their strange behavior. In March 1993, at thirty-one years old, the girls were transferred to Caswell, but upon arrival, Jennifer was unresponsive. Jennifer was rushed to the hospital where she was pronounced dead, with the cause of death being a sudden inflammation of the heart. Jennifer died on the exact day the sisters had predicted, from bizarrely natural causes. June stated that when Jennifer was dying, her last words were “At last we’re out.”7
After Jennifer’s death, June left Caswell a year later and her life completely changed. She began speaking more and improving her social skills. It was as if their belief that only one could thrive was proven to be true. June then requested to be called by her middle name, Alison, to help with the reinvention of her whole identity. It would take June five years to accept Jennifer’s death, refrain from feeling guilty, and fully move on with her life, according to Marjorie Wallace.8
- Marjorie Wallace, The Silent Twins (United Kingdom: Vintage Publishing, 1996), 3-4. ↵
- Hilton Als, “We Two Made One,” New Yorker, December 2000. Accessed January 27,2018. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2000/12/04/we-two-made-one. ↵
- Hilton Als, “We Two Made One,” New Yorker, December 2000. Accessed January 27,2018. ↵
- Polly Teale, Speechless (London: Nick Hern Books, 2011), 14. ↵
- Hilton Als, “We Two Made One,” New Yorker, December 2000. Accessed January 27,2018. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2000/12/04/we-two-made-one ↵
- Marjorie Wallace, The Silent Twins (United Kingdom: Vintage Publishing, 1996), 270. ↵
- April de Angelis, “June Gibbons couldn’t mourn the death of her ‘silent twin’ Jennifer,” Guardian Newspaper, May 29, 1994. Accessed January 27, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jun/28/fiction.classicalmusicandopera ↵
- Marjorie Wallace, The Silent Twins (United Kingdom: Vintage Publishing, 1996), 273. ↵
144 comments
Maria Garcia
I don’t even know where to begin with this article! The first sentence of the article had me intrigued. It’s so weird to me how they went from only speaking to one another to hating each other. This article has me wanting to look up more just to see what else was found out about the two. I also want to know if there was any way that they were able to decode their language.
Octaviano Huron
June and Jennifer Gibbons were undeniable victims of bullying and racism, and all of that negative energy from years of torment from their classmates and the community greatly contributed to their mental instability. I cannot imagine speaking to only one person almost my entire life, and developing that type of behavior can provide evidence of what the human psyche is capable of. Very unique and well-written article.
Eric Ortega Rodriguez
Let me start off by saying that this article is very unique. I feel very sad that the girls had to experience bullying which made them distant from everyone else. This article as a whole was very bizarre. However, the part that stuck out to me was the prediction of Jennifer’s death and her last words being “At last we’re out.” Overall, this article was a good article to read and was very well written. Great work.
Rosario Moreno
Whoa not speaking to anyone but one person. I wonder if they ever had crushes or thought about conversing with other people. I also wonder why they only ever spoke to one another and was that what caused them to hate each other. I have so many question that’ll never be answered. It was crazy to hear that she died so strangely and coincidental.
Leeza Cordova
The ending of this story was very sad, yet surprising that one of them was able to predict what was going to happen to them. I have heard about these twins before on twitter, but I did not know that their full story. This article did a good job of going to detail, and also had a very eye catching introduction that kept me interested.
Chelsea Alvarez
The story of the “Silent Sisters” is a very unique one. It was saddening to read that they were bullied because of their race, but they somehow developed their own form of communicating to each other which is really strange. However, what surprised me the most was reading that the girls began to mirror each other and eventually viewed themselves as one person. Jennifer dying to save her sister and the last words she spoke were very chilling.
Tala Owens
I don’t even know what to say after reading this. I feel sorry that they had to endure such harsh bullying and racism for years which caused them to isolate themselves. They truly only had each other to count on for many of their formative years. This story was very interesting and intense to read. It is scary how they predicted her death and it really happened naturally. This article was wild!
Tyler Reynolds
This was a fascinating story with great potential but I think the author could have gone into a little more depth. She could have gone into more depth on psychopathic personality disorder, listing what caused it if anything, what exactly were the symptoms, and any remedy/cure. Other than that, the story was good.
On a side note: The hostility and involuntary exile that the twins faced in not a new phenomenon. Even today, people are forced out of institutions, workplaces, and away from their families because of the political opinions, lifestyles, or associations.
Bianca-Rhae Jacquez
This story was extremely surprising to read. I had heard a similar story about other twins that turned violent when around each other but apart they were perfectly fine. It amazes me that June knew the exact date that her twin sister would die. Jennifer’s last words seem to be a little creepy to me. The meaning of her words seem to probably be something only her sister and her would know. Great story.
Brianna Ford
This story is so mind bobbling. I never heard of the “silent sisters” but this was such a good read. This article was so easy to understand and the flow was good. It is crazy that they created their own language that only the two of them could understand, and how they began walking in a synchronized way. I wonder what the parents thought about their peculiar daughters. I just find it strange as to why their parents would move them to an even more racist school, to only have them get bully some. It is also creep that she wanted her sister dead since that is the only way she could live her life. I am definitely going to look more on this story.