Compare and Contrast

When I first read “Nobel Lecture” by Toni Morrison and “This is Water” by David Wallace they seem to have nothing to do with each other, so I tried to look at it in a few different ways. After a while, because “Nobel Lecture” was much harder to read then the other story, I saw that they are trying to convey to us the same principle, responsibility. We have a responsibility on how we use language and how we let it affect others. As shown in Toni Morrison’s “Nobel Lecture” the “bird” is language and how we use it is up to us. In the end, you have a choice in what you believe and how you use it, whether or not it "dies" or hurts others is up to you. 

 “This is Water” is more about how we treat others and the state of thinking we all use as default. Though both stories show signs of people only thinking about themselves, "This is Water" focuses on it. He tells us that we have a state of mind that we easily go to where we only think of ourselves and problems. This is a problem because everyone else waiting in that line with you might be going through the same or harder situations than you are. When we generally think only about ourselves and not others, we all get affected. I mean who thinks about the other person’s situation while on the road? I am usually just yelling at people to get out of my way. Thinking about what he has said has made me more aware about other's perspectives for the time being.

The children who walked into the blind woman’s home and asked the question were only thinking of their own purpose and not about the person they were talking to. The “Nobel Lecture” also shows that people do not see what is right in front of them. That is why the visitors got upset with the woman’s abstract way of answering them. She doesn’t have to see or feel the bird that is in their hands because what they do with it is their responsibility. Now the “Nobel Lecture” also talks about how language is our responsibility to keep alive or to kill it. This depends on how each and every one of us uses the language.