Connection: On a person level, this philosophical look at the human condition is a comforting simplification. I, too, find myself using language to make sense of my being – my past, my present, and my future. Language itself feels comforting, offering a cathartic exhale. Whenever I am stressed, anxious or confused, I know that I can use language (spoken word to family or written text to friends) to make sense of a situation and describe it in a way that nobody else could.

Question: How significant is the old woman's blindness to the overarching message of Morrison's Nobel Lecture? Is the blindness a convenient way to get the message across or is it an indispensable call to the organic form of language creation (i.e. seeing/expressing without pictures)?

Fiat

Definition:

noun

an authoritative decree, sanction, or order:

a royal fiat.

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/fiat

Additional Comment: I found this moment in the text to be a brief yet noteworthy commentary/reflection on the complexities of silence. Normally, silence is seen as simple, as nothing; however, Morrison preceded such a moment with a thorough narration of the poetic, contemplative, inner-dialogue of the old woman – a long, complex look at a moment within a silence. She compared the outer simplicity of silence with the inner noise of the very same state.