“There is a loneliness that can be rocked. Arms crossed, knees drawn up; holding on, this motion, unlike a ship’s, smooth’s and contains the rocker. It’s an inside kind—wrapped tight like skin. There is a loneliness that roams. No rocking can hold it down. It is alive, on its own…It was not a story to pass on…They forgot her like a bad dream. After they made up their tales, shaped and decorated them… It was not a story to pass on...So they forgot her. Like an unpleasant dream during a troubling sleep…This is not a story to pass on” (323-324). Toni Morrison uses repetition of the phrase “this is not a story to pass on”, “they forgot her” and “there is a loneliness” in order to portray that the horrible pas was for her that it should not be remember
