Final answer:
When rephrasing the sentence without 'too', it becomes 'The people were so stunned they could not speak in the beginning', retaining the meaning of stunned silence.
Step-by-step explanation:
The passage provided illustrates various characters displaying significant emotional reactions or a lack thereof in response to intense situations. In these moments, the characters experience constraints in expressing themselves, whether due to a stunned silence, an unnatural calm, or the inability to verbally communicate at all.
For the specific sentence "The people were too stunned to speak in the beginning", you can remove 'too' and rephrase it as "The people were so stunned they could not speak in the beginning". The use of 'so...that...' structure maintains the original sentence's meaning by indicating the extent of their stunned condition which resulted in their silence.