Summary Of Jazz By Toni Morrison
There are many book titles that only have a small part to do with the actual book, but the title Jazz by Toni Morrison is significant throughout the whole book. This is because Jazz was a very popular music style in the 1920s, which is around the time the book is set. During that time, Jazz was very popular in the African American culture, this is significant because the main characters of the book are African American. Toni Morrison incorporates elements of Jazz music throughout the whole book, she does this by using rhythmic sentence structure, expressive language, and deep messages. Despite the title being very short, the book is filled with many prominent examples of Jazz.
One key element of Jazz music is rhythmic language and sentence …show more content…
structure. Morrison uses this element of Jazz throughout the whole book. An example of Morrison using rhythmic language is when she is talking about the City. Morrison says, “Look out. There goes the sad stuff. The bad stuff. The things-nobody-could-help stuff”(7). Morrison’s use of rhyming makes the words and sentences piece together like a lyric from a song. Another example of jazzy rhythmic language is found when Morrison is talking about a Thursday man. Morrison says, “But for satisfaction pure and deep, for balance in pleasure and comfort, Thursday can’t be beat--as is clear from the capable expression on the faces of the men and their conquering stride in the street”(50). Morrison uses the rhyming words ‘deep’, ‘beat’, and ‘street’ to make the passage flow like a song. Morrison’s use of rhythm and fluid language accentuate her use of Jazz music throughout the book.
Another element of Jazz music that Morrison incorporates into her writing style is expressive language. In Jazz music, images are displayed through depictive and expressive words which captivate the listener and make them really feel the music, not just hear it. An example of Morrison using this element of Jazz music is found is when she says, “Daylight slants like a razor cutting the buildings in half. In the top half I see looking faces and it’s not easy to tell which are people, which the work of stonemasons”(7). Instead of using language like covers, Morrison uses language like ‘razor’ and ‘cut’ which makes this scene much stronger and almost visable. Another example of Morrisons expressive language is, “He forgets a sun that used to slide up like the yolk of a good country egg, thick and red-orange at the bottom of the sky, and he doesn’t miss it, doesn’t look up to see what happened to it or to stars made irrelevant by the light of thrilling, wasteful street lamps”(34). Morrison compares the sun to a ‘yolk of a good country egg’, that is ‘red-orange’ in color. This image is very descriptive and really makes the image of the sunset clear. Jazz music is strong because people can experience the events and images the artist is portraying and in the book, Morrison uses the same methods to make her imagery strong.
On top of rhythmic verses and expressive language, Morrison also uses deep messages which is another element commonly found in Jazz music.
In Jazz, rhythmic verses and expressive language are used to portray the deep messages, and make the audience feel what the artist feels. An example of a deep message is found when Violet falls in a ‘crack’. Morrison says, “I call them cracks because that is what they were. Not openings or breaks, but dark fissures in the globe light of the day”(22). The ‘cracks’ Violet falls into are due to the events that happened in her past. Her day will be going fine, but then she falls in a ‘crack’ which causes Violet to make bad decisions or have unpleasant memories. This concept is important because it really shows how much the past can affect the future. Another important deep message is, “It was the music. The dirty, get-on-down music the women sang and the men played and both danced to, close and shameless or apart and wild”(58). Alice thinks the ‘dirty get-on-down music’ causes problems and riots in the African American community, but in actuality, the riots and depression caused the music. This is significant and important because it shows how strong and influential music is. The music allows the African American community to express themselves and deal with all the wrong that is being done to them. In the book, music is not just music, but a form of expression and
emotion.
Throughout the book, Toni Morrison incorporates elements of Jazz music to give the book rhythmic tone, expressive imagery, and deep messages. The improvisational tone of the narrator and constant character development also add a Jazz element to the book. Therefore Jazz is the title of the book because the word Jazz describes the tone, imagery, messages, and language used throughout the book.
One key element of Jazz music is rhythmic language and sentence …show more content…
structure. Morrison uses this element of Jazz throughout the whole book. An example of Morrison using rhythmic language is when she is talking about the City. Morrison says, “Look out. There goes the sad stuff. The bad stuff. The things-nobody-could-help stuff”(7). Morrison’s use of rhyming makes the words and sentences piece together like a lyric from a song. Another example of jazzy rhythmic language is found when Morrison is talking about a Thursday man. Morrison says, “But for satisfaction pure and deep, for balance in pleasure and comfort, Thursday can’t be beat--as is clear from the capable expression on the faces of the men and their conquering stride in the street”(50). Morrison uses the rhyming words ‘deep’, ‘beat’, and ‘street’ to make the passage flow like a song. Morrison’s use of rhythm and fluid language accentuate her use of Jazz music throughout the book.
Another element of Jazz music that Morrison incorporates into her writing style is expressive language. In Jazz music, images are displayed through depictive and expressive words which captivate the listener and make them really feel the music, not just hear it. An example of Morrison using this element of Jazz music is found is when she says, “Daylight slants like a razor cutting the buildings in half. In the top half I see looking faces and it’s not easy to tell which are people, which the work of stonemasons”(7). Instead of using language like covers, Morrison uses language like ‘razor’ and ‘cut’ which makes this scene much stronger and almost visable. Another example of Morrisons expressive language is, “He forgets a sun that used to slide up like the yolk of a good country egg, thick and red-orange at the bottom of the sky, and he doesn’t miss it, doesn’t look up to see what happened to it or to stars made irrelevant by the light of thrilling, wasteful street lamps”(34). Morrison compares the sun to a ‘yolk of a good country egg’, that is ‘red-orange’ in color. This image is very descriptive and really makes the image of the sunset clear. Jazz music is strong because people can experience the events and images the artist is portraying and in the book, Morrison uses the same methods to make her imagery strong.
On top of rhythmic verses and expressive language, Morrison also uses deep messages which is another element commonly found in Jazz music.
In Jazz, rhythmic verses and expressive language are used to portray the deep messages, and make the audience feel what the artist feels. An example of a deep message is found when Violet falls in a ‘crack’. Morrison says, “I call them cracks because that is what they were. Not openings or breaks, but dark fissures in the globe light of the day”(22). The ‘cracks’ Violet falls into are due to the events that happened in her past. Her day will be going fine, but then she falls in a ‘crack’ which causes Violet to make bad decisions or have unpleasant memories. This concept is important because it really shows how much the past can affect the future. Another important deep message is, “It was the music. The dirty, get-on-down music the women sang and the men played and both danced to, close and shameless or apart and wild”(58). Alice thinks the ‘dirty get-on-down music’ causes problems and riots in the African American community, but in actuality, the riots and depression caused the music. This is significant and important because it shows how strong and influential music is. The music allows the African American community to express themselves and deal with all the wrong that is being done to them. In the book, music is not just music, but a form of expression and
emotion.
Throughout the book, Toni Morrison incorporates elements of Jazz music to give the book rhythmic tone, expressive imagery, and deep messages. The improvisational tone of the narrator and constant character development also add a Jazz element to the book. Therefore Jazz is the title of the book because the word Jazz describes the tone, imagery, messages, and language used throughout the book.