A Close Reading of Race in Jazz

While reading Jazz I found that there were many times I needed to remind myself that I was reading a story about African American characters. Toni Morrison wrote Jazz in a way that did not make race the main theme. However, race definitely was a theme covered throughout the book. All but one of Morrison’s main characters in Jazz are at least part African American. Each of these characters takes the stage and is in control of telling their own story. They are able to each explain who they are as a person, as well as discuss the experiences that they have had during their lifetime. Some of these experiences include how their race has affected their life, but not all. This is because Morrison wanted to make Jazz not just a story about race, but other themes as well.



Toni Morrison defines race in a couple different ways throughout this novel. She shows the way African Americans are treated by whites to show one type of race. Another type of race Morrison describes is how African Americans see themselves being black. These two types of race occur often throughout Jazz. When race is discussed in either of these ways it is easy to pick up on and understand.

The way African Americans are treated by white people is one of the ways race is portrayed in Jazz. On page 74, Morrison’s narrator is describing Alice Manfred and the story that goes with her. Alice is Dorcus’s aunt and we are told that Alice now feels very unsafe after Joe shot Dorcus and even more unsafe because Violet stabbed Dorcus’s dead body at the funeral. Even though Alice feels unsafe there is nothing she can do, she says “she would have called the police after both of them if everything she knew about Negro life had made it even possible to consider.” This quote shows Alice knows that because she is a black woman the white community, and the things that are run by the white community, for example the police station, will not be able to help her. She has decided that it is not worth her time or effort. The color of Alice’s skin is what keeps her from calling for safety.

Another example of the treatment that the African Americans receive from white people is illustrated on page 102. This page is describing how African Americans from all over were coming to the fields to work. It then goes on to describe how the African Americans were paid for their hard work, “nine dollars a bale, some said, if you grew your own; eleven dollars if you had a white friend carry it up for pricing. And for pickers, ten cents a day for the women and a case quarter for the men.” If the African American worked hard and grew his own he was paid a decent wage, but if he had a white friend carry it up, it was worth more. The workers are the ones that do all the time consuming and hard work, and they receive only a small amount in comparison to what an African American would make if he grew his own. This quote is a perfect example of how the whites treated the African Americans, it shows that Morrison saw that throughout our history we have not been treated as equals.

On page 106, there is another example of Morrison describing the way whites treated African Americans. On this page the narrator is describing the wealth of the whites in the city of Baltimore. The African American narrator explains that “white people literally throw money at you--- just for being neighborly: opening a taxi, picking up a package. And anything that you had or made or found you could sell in the streets.” This passage goes on to say that the African Americans line the streets with items that are either made or used that they can sell to the wealthy white people of the city. Morrison shows the reader that she is aware of how the whites and African Americans are treated differently.

Morrison not only sees race as a difference between two different races, but within one race as well. In Jazz she has the African Americans go through events that would leave them questioning what would be the “right” thing to do. One of the first examples of this occurs when Joe and Violet are on the train headed for the city. The train has just passed through Delaware, a state in which the whites and African Americans had to be separated with a curtain. Now that they are in a free state the attendant came through the car of African Americans and informed them that the breakfast car was open and they could go in as they pleased. It is stated on page 31 that the attendant “wanted the whole coach to file into the dining car, now that they could.” This passage is one that shows just how hard it is for an African American to accept that he or she is a free man or woman. It is very hard for them to just stand up and walk into a dining car, when for so long they were not allowed and they know it will not last forever. I think that this section in the story really shows how the color of your skin could cause many problems, both within society and yourself.

Another example of how Morrison added inner conflict within the African Americans occurs on page 77. In this part of Jazz, Morrison describes the weapons that African American females choose, “black women were armed; black women were dangerous and the less money they had the deadlier the weapon they chose.” This quote portrays more than just the theme of race, but also feminism, economic status and violence. Dealing with just the race issue though, it is clear that Morrison knew that many African Americans were armed and dangerous because they had many unfair opportunities compared to whites. You can tell that this is an inner conflict that Morrison wants to touch base on because after she is finished describing the African Americans who are armed and dangerous, she goes on to describe that they are the ones have “found protection in church and the judging, angry God”. Morrison has the African Americans decide which side they want to be associated with and how they would protect themselves if they needed to.

Morrison, Toni. Jazz. 1992. Vintage International.


By: Sarah Burns and Lindsey Sanders