SE Academic Review 2023

6 ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD

place of refuge in which the Black community can thrive after the impacts of slavery, ‘They stared out of their windows for the first sight of the City that dance with them, proving already how much it loved them’, (p. 32). Morrison portrays the characters as being in awe of the hope and opportunity that the City provides by using the word ‘stared’, signifying that they were enthralled by the beauty of the City and their chance of a new life. The rough childhood of Joe and Violet and their absent family leads them to perceive the City as a ‘motherland’, reflecting the lives of others in the Black community who are searching for a way to make America their home, despite the horrors of the dislocation of slavery. Carmen Gillespie describes how the ‘narrator waxes on about the City’ (Gillespie, 2008, p. 72), which represents hope for the African-American community. The perception of the City as a ‘motherland’ is crucial for both Joe and Violet and also the wider Black community: after hundreds of years of pain, the City represents a place of refuge and hope. As the popularity of the City has arisen as a result of slavery, Morrison communicates how slavery has an impact on relationships by providing the City with agency and suggesting that it influences the actions of those that live there. The agency of the City is portrayed early in the novel, ‘A City like this one makes me dream tall and feel in on things’ (p. 7). The way in which Morrison describes how the City ‘makes’ you dream tall, instils the idea that the inhabitants of the City are not in control of what they are doing and it is instead the City that is forcing them (Wilson, 2016). This notion reinforces the idea of the lasting impacts of slavery on relationships as Morrison implies the power of the City over people: a City which the Black community have fled to after the destruction of slavery.

failed her children. The failure that Sethe feels causes her relationship with her children to change and she later uses the rape as an explanation for killing her daughter as a means to protect her from the violence that comes with slavery and the deep and ingrained trauma that it results in (Barnett, 1997, p. 419). Sethe’s milk also connects Denver and Beloved, stressing how the violence and destruction that come with slavery impact relationships. When ‘Denver [takes] her mother’s milk right along with the blood of her sister’ (p. 179), Morrison illustrates how Denver and her dead sister are linked as a result of slavery. Sethe’s need to nurse Denver, despite having just murdered her other child shows her still exhibiting the motherly instinct and hence suggests how Sethe’s act of murder was done out of love to protect her child. The juxtaposition of the purity of motherhood and also the brutality and violence that slavery has caused allows Morrison to communicate the impact that slavery has on relationships, particularly between mother and child. Moreover, the fact that Denver takes Sethe’s milk as well as her sister’s blood highlights the connection between Denver and her sister but also how the legacy of slavery is inherited and passed down; despite not being enslaved herself, Denver has been exposed to the brutality that slavery has caused. The symbolism in Jazz also aids Morrison in conveying the lasting impacts of slavery on relationships. The City in Jazz is described in a loving way and is representative of a place of refuge after the damage of slavery. The distance between the City, Harlem, and the deep south – where slavery was extremely prevalent – further reinforces the significance of the City as a place of sanctuary for the African-American community. As Joe and Violet travel to the City for the first time, the affectionate language used by Morrison helps instil the notion that the City is a Conclusion Analysing Beloved and Jazz we have seen Morrison’s powerful use of narrative voice, characterisation and symbolism in order to illustrate the impact of slavery on relationships. The direct impact of slavery on relationships and the continuing impact in the aftermath of slavery causes the reader to reflect on the destruction slavery has caused – particularly on familial relationships. As

Toni Morrison is a highly regarded author, there was difficulty in finding an original idea relating to her work; in spite of the vast body of criticism available on Morrison’s books, which at times seems intimidating, this particular focus helped me to arrive at a deeper understanding of both Beloved and Jazz . Morrison’s distinctive use of the narrative voice is particularly resonant; with the dispersed narrative structure of Beloved bringing forth the