Toni Morrison

In Morrison's Nobel Prize acceptance speech, we see that the author provides us with a "story" of an old woman who is blind but wise representing the "practiced writer" and a bird that represents "language." Language is an instrument of power and in that instrument we see the relationship of truth to power. There are different uses of language as an instrument. Just as one may use technology for good (i.e. computers) or evil (i.e. weapons to kill), so one may use language for a variety of purposes. As Morrison writes of the old woman, "She is worried about how the language she dreams in, given to her at birth, is handled, put into service, even withheld from her for certain nefarious purposes," (4).

Language is often used as a tool to oppress, to justify killing, to deny access to upward mobility and development to non-dominant social groups, and for other purposes that do not enlighten, nurture, or heal. However, language is often undermined by paid-for-politicians or demagogues, by insatiable dictators, and by counterfeit journalists. Over time language can die from carelessness, disuse, indifferenc

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