Multiple Narrative of Jazz by Toni Morrison

In Jazz by Toni Morrison, the central narrator is not explicitly stated--rather, readers are given purposeful ambiguity that leaves the point of view up to interpretation. Because of this, I feel that the narrator is an omniscient, often 3rd person narrator due to their birds-eye view over many events of the novel. Alongside this, the mysterious narrator include moments of 1st person interjections to carry the story along in a way that exudes emotions likened almost to a diary entry. Although bias is shown towards characters and the story is told in a non-linear form, these elements intertwine with facts only an omniscient narrative could reference, indicating a presence outside the characters that tells the story. In an interestingly created stream of consciousness narrative, the author settles on a combination between 1st person and 3rd person omniscient to provide a personal yet all-knowing view on the story’s events, overlaying story on story in a melodic harmony reminiscent of the novel’s title itself.

This stream-of-consciousness, omniscient narrative is greatly impactful when discussing each character’s actions--better immersing the reader through the narrator’s own sympathies and explanations. For example, as Violet is introduced the narrator takes an omniscient point of view to explicate her thought process of winning Joe back through jealousy as it would “dry up his tears and and give her some satisfaction as well” (Morrison 4). Her plans come from her own head, but the narrator addresses Violet through the third person, making it clear that they are not the same person. While Violet is given her own chance at narration later on, the tale of her running through the snow in combination with the ability to know her plans before they happen provides ample evidence that this narrator takes on an omniscient view.

In the first three pages, the narrator also uses their 1st person point of view to insert their own attitude and sympathies to the story, in comparison to the typical neutral 3rd person  After addressing Violet’s wild schemes of romance, the narrator sarcastically remarks “good luck and let me know” (Morrison 5). These sorts of out of pocket statements are threaded constantly throughout the novel. By including such remarks, the narrator is able to have the best of both literary worlds--personal ideals of the first person, and the all-knowing presence of the third person. The addition of such comments is a more personal approach to narration, and is used to both sympathize and belittle the characters to twist the reader’s biases. 

This combination of the omniscient and personal is incredibly impactful for how readers interpret the text. Even when describing the city of Harlem, the narrator uses their personal voice to insert their own opinions on the city whilst leaving holes for readers to decide the true meaning of the text. This is most notoriously present as they feel “alone, yes, but top notch and indestructible-- like the City in 1926 when the wars are all over and there will never be another one” (Morrison 7). The narrator describes the city as unbeatable, and at the time period of the novel another World War wasn’t apparent to most. Despite these seemingly positive and all-knowing thoughts, there are several gaps within the narrator’s claims that leave readers questioning their true intentions. By qualifying the sentence with the word “alone” and implying no knowledge of future events, the first person concepts are increasingly present as if it were fully omniscient, the narrator would likely know peace was far from home. 

The holes left in the narrator’s statements explicate a more personal, stream-of-consciousness kind of narrative in comparison to an all-knowing, godlike presence of traditional third person points of views. The insistent personal sympathies and often sarcastic attitudes provided towards many of the characters indicates that the narrator is fully immersed in the story rather than watching from afar. That said, the consistent knowledge of character’s thoughts and actions is tradition to an omniscient viewpoint. The combination of these two aspects leads me to believe that the narrator is not a character readers learn by name in  the story, but rather a mysterious third party that is within the story yet allotted a bird’s eye view of events. Though not a traditional narrative by any means, I believe that this combination of viewpoints is incredibly impactful for leading readers to their own observations and interpretations--especially when meeting characters like Violet, who is deeply complex.