Daniel Feibush-ENL 010C Blog Post 2

            Toni Morrison’s novel Jazz tells its story from an interesting perspective in how distant the narrator is from the events that take place in the story. This person never explicitly describes themself beyond a few lines where they describe life within the City, and the information briefly presented to the reader does not reveal much about their identity or the exact nature of their relationship to anyone from the main cast. Their lack of influence on the story sets them in the role of an observer rather than actor, but this does not mean they are any less relevant in fulfilling the story’s purpose. Rather, it reinforces the idea that the story could take place in any ordinary city in the real world. The decision of writing the narrator as someone who is indirectly involved in Jazz’s conflict gives them the position of an outsider, just as the reader is in this situation, and because of this, it is easier to read the narrator’s observations as those of a person existing in reality, watching events as they unfold and interpreting them as best they can.

            The narrator’s existence as an individual in the setting is important to note, as it is partly responsible for why the novel has such an air of realism. In the earliest section, the unnamed narrator begins telling the story from a first-person limited point of view, signified by the fact that the first line is “I know that woman” (Morrison, 3), determining that even in a community so large, the people within it live their lives close enough to each other to at least know the names of their neighbors. An advantage of this perspective is that the reader receives insight as to how the storyteller views the world because their words act as a portal into their psyche, allowing for them to reveal what they think about certain characters and specific situations. Examples of this include the section in which they describe Violet’s obsession with Dorcas after her funeral, as the narrator states that Violet “decided to love-well, find out about-[Dorcas]” (Morrison, 5), and her internal conflict in deciding whether or not the City is the haven she believes it to be is made clear in the quote “Here comes the new…There goes the sad stuff” (Morrison, 7). The former line shows the narrator is not always able to speculate exactly why some characters make their decisions, and the latter line enlightens the reader that the narrator can tolerate her environment more easily because of what good it has to offer. Though they are not directly utilized in the main plot, Morrison makes the narrator an effective element of the story by writing them as an identifiable person.

            While a first-person limited narrator has more restrictive limitations compared to third-person in terms of how much information they can divulge to the reader, there are opportunities granted by these circumstances to make the story interesting. Jazz’s narrator in particular has the strength of being able to interpret information about other people based on certain details about them, as stated when they explain that they “[make] sure that no one knows…about [them]” (Morrison, 8) and “watch…everyone” (Morrison, 8) so that nobody can overpower them. In the world of the story, this narrator proves themself to be a tactician in the midst of the numerous characters living in the City, someone who detaches themself from society for their own well-being. The narrator’s signaling to the reader that they keep their distance not only presents them as a unique character but also justifies the decision for making them limited in their knowledge of the scandal involving Violet, Joe Trace and the others.

            Furthermore, the narrator’s characterization as someone who lives in a state of solitude from their fellow citizens justifies the tone which she tells the story through. They view the situation laid out before them as a tragedy, but not something which she found to have been at all unexpected. When describing the dual-edged nature of the City, the narrator mentions without any sign of distress that they have been “exposed to all sorts of ignorance and criminality” (Morrison, 8) and yet it is able to go about their daily life in a state of indifference. They do not describe the events involving Joe Trace and Dorcas with any outbursts of rage, simply disclosing the facts as she was made aware of them. She has no relation to either of them, and therefore has as much reason to involve themself in this scandal as in anything else. It is arguable that they feel pity for Violet, as they describe the rift that grows between them as “a poisoned silence [that] floated through the rooms” (Morrison, 5). Still, though, the narrator’s decision to not break from her philosophy of never entering other people’s social circles ultimately proves her to be uncaring of Violet’s plight enough to stay away from any sign of conflict.

            The concept of a narrator in the setting of a community being an individual who represents a bigger mass of individuals has not gone unseen in other stories, but it is used well in Jazz for showing how distant the community becomes in response to a tragedy. The narrator’s preference to maintain their distance from the main cast makes them a representative for the other citizens, wanting nothing to do with the conflict that suddenly arises. In this way, the narrator portrays a morose vision of society in which people will be made fully aware of another person’s misfortunes, but will not do anything to bring them solace because the risk of bringing harm upon themselves is too great.