Language
The characters in Morrison's fable conjure the power of language with deeply descriptive words. For example, the children implore the old woman to give them sustenance through language, asking if there is "no song, no literature, no poem full of vitamins, no history connected to experience" that she can give them. Her words have the power to show them "belief's wide skirt" and to "suture . . . the places where blood might flow." These descriptions lend richness and depth to the idea of language.
In another section, the old woman reflects on the meaning of language, using similarly rich description. Whether language is "grand or slender, burrowing, blasting, or refusing to sanctify; whether it laughs out loud or is a cry without an alphabet; the choice word, the chosen silence, unmolested language surges toward knowledge, not its destruction." These descriptions again personify language and ascribe deep significance to its employment.
