Dead language as a suit of armor (metaphor)
Morrison gives official, statist discourse as an example of what she calls "dead language," or "unyielding language content to admire its own paralysis." This kind of language is like a suit of armor in that it is designed as decoration, and yet remains empty. Both are rigid and unable to accommodate difference or nuance.
Words as surgeon's hands (metaphor)
The children in the fable ask for the old woman to use her words with care and purpose, like a surgeon uses his or her hands.
Belief as a wide skirt (metaphor)
The children ask the old woman to "show [them] belief's wide skirt" with her stories. In other words, they want the old woman to use her words to broaden and diversify their knowledge of human experience.
The old woman's answer as a television script (metaphor)
The children accuse the old woman of giving them a deceptive answer, one that reveals nothing and contains no meaning. They liken it to "a made-for-television script."
Words that pack women's throats (simile)
Morrison says that the old woman knows that there will be more violent language in the world. Specifically, she cites words designed for violence against women, "to pack their throats like pate-producing geese with their own unsayable, transgressive words..."
