The Sacred Language of Toni MorrisonToni Morrison makes a good point when, in her acceptance speech after receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature, she says: “Story. . . East . . . one of the main ways of absorbing knowledge” (7). The words we use and the way we use them determine how we, as humans, communicate our thoughts, feelings and actions and therefore our knowledge of the world and its people. Knowledge is power. In this way, our language is also powerful. In his acceptance speech, Morrison attempts to communicate the idea that we need to be careful about how we use our words. She compares the use of language to the life of a metaphorical bird in the story of a wise and blind old woman. Toni Morrison opens her speech by referring to the story of two young people who, in trying to refute the credibility of this wise woman, ask the question: "Is the bird that I hold [in my hand] alive or dead ? » (11). Of course, being blind, the woman does not know this and must say so. However, she adds: “What I do know is that it’s in your hands. It’s in your hands” (11). Saying this, she tells the young people that the fate of the bird's life is their responsibility. The bird, in this case, represents language. Morrison explains: “So I chose to read the bird as a language and the woman as an experienced writer” (12). The bird was found dead, was killed, or has the capacity (if alive) to be killed, just as language, considered a living being, can live or die; be saved or destroyed. Language is “capable of dying, of erasing; certainly in peril and salvageable only by an effort of will” (Morrison 13). This will is the responsibility of those who... middle of paper... the possible life of its speakers, readers, writers” (20), describes Morrison. The limits of what language can do are undefined, unachievable and inaccessible. For, in reality, there are no limits to language – no limits to knowledge – no limits to power – the power of the mind. “'The future of language is yours'” (23), Morrison tells us. It's in our hands. This is why we must consider sacred the life of language, the life of this bird which has wings to make it soar. Works Cited Fox-Genovese, Elizabeth. “The demands for a common culture: gender, race, class and canon. » Writing as Re-Vision: A Student Anthology. Ed. Beth Alvarado and Barbara Cully. Needham Heights: Simon & Schuster P. 1998. 15-23. Morrison, Tony. “Conference and acceptance speech, on the occasion of the awarding of the Nobel Prize for Literature.” New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc..., 1994.