Terrell Johnson

Toni Morrison

Dr. Carter

2-5-20

Green and White House

     At the beginning of The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison,  she writes he same passage three times; one after the other. As an reader, it may seem pretty odd to do that. There must be some underlining meaning that Morrison was trying to convey both from a literary standpoint as well as literal one. In Toni Morrison's essay Invisible Ink, it talks about how sometimes in literature  a message can be conveyed if one looks past the literal meaning and look beyond what the author is really trying to say. She goes to say, "As the text can not change, it follows that a successful relationship between text and reader can only come about through changes in the reader's projection."(348). How ever the reader interprets the reading is how it will be conveyed. The tree passages differ because the punctuation and spacing all decrease by the third passage into a jumbled mess. From a literal stand point, it looks as if the author just forgot to edit the passages correctly; however if one looks past that, it may have an even deeper meaning. Morrison's passages about the Green and White house show a happy family with mother, father , and children. The fact that the passages lose punctuation and end up jumbled up could foreshadow and reflect how this happy family will end up. The words may deceive the reader as the text reveals how the family will end up in confusion and disarray. 

    Morrison also wrote an essay called Academic Whispers where she describes the academic limitation that other put on black literature and art. She goes ti say, "There may come a time when universities have to fight for the privilege of intellectual freedom." (200). She could have had these different passages to express some form of intellectual freedom. Not only that but she was able to say so much with out saying anything at all. She conveyed a message using the physical text and underlining meaning instead of actually saying it through her words. These are different ways or reasons that Morrison could have utilized the three passages like she did.