Justification of the Title in Morrison's Jazz

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Significance of the Title in Jazz by Toni Morrison

Jazz is Jazz in Jazz

Jazz is a Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning novel by Toni Morrison which hit the shelves in 1992. Jazz is a musical manifestation of the suffering and temptation of African-Americans. The musical Jazz is played structurally throughout the novel. There are solos in form of alternating character voices and the feeling dissonance and harmony at the same time. Jazz is the vibe of the City and Jazz is a tonic to stir up the vengeance. The musical Jazz was a thriving genre during the Harlem Renaissance. [When we discuss the importance of the title in Jazz, we have to showcase its symbolic musical importance as well. ]

Jazz and Characters

The musical dissonance of is actioned and dialogued by individual characters as well. We have characters like Alice Manfred and the Miller sisters who deem Jazz music as an anthem of hell to highlight its sinful power. Jazz makes Joe fall in love with the young Dorcas and it is the loud performance of Jazz which enrages Joe to kill the same Dorcas with whom he tried to form a new identity. But the melodious harmony in Jazz is represented as healing between Joe and Violet through Felice as she brings her records and watches them dance.

The Power of Jazz

Jazz is played as quite powerful in the novel. Jazz in the City has an intoxicating effect, inviting its citizens to enjoy its wine made of solos and other musical notes. Jazz is a dominant ruler of the City which can determine the seasons. In every season, the clarinet players determine its warmth or cold. The musical shift highlights Wild's disappearance which chases Joe for a long-lasting period. Jazz gives characters a musical flash-back.

Jazz and Racial Prejudices

Jazz gives a historical insight of the miseries of African-Americans. Their life in the South was marked with prejudice and then destruction. Many people lost their lives and the ones who were spared, lived their life from hand to mouth. Thus the journey from "black and blues man" to "black therefore - I’m-blues man" began (migration from country to the city in the North). Jazz music had itself a prejudiced behaviour against its listeners which made them commit gross crimes. In short, Jazz made the black people realize how they were treated before and how they can lead a peaceful life in the city.

Jazzy Melody in Phrases

Jazz as a novel is marked with the words which create musical effects. For instance, see the ending lines of the novel,

Say make me, remake me. You are free to do it and I am free to let you because look, look. Look where your hands are now.

The unconventional ending of the unconventional novel is renowned for its repeated three words or phrases, indicating a sense of urgency through musical use of words. [Literally, you can sing these lines out loud in a dance party and no one will notice if these lines are taken from a novel. 😁]

Conclusion

Jazz is Morrison's musical experiment with its own set of risks, difficulty and melody. Morrison, an African-American writer, worked hard to reinforce the melodious echo of a sad history to her readers as listeners of the music playing not by a speaker but by a book. So, it is no wrong to assert that Jazz is Jazz in Jazz.