As the story unfolds, Morrison skillfully weaves together the characters' narratives, revealing their inner lives, desires, and secrets. Through a non-linear narrative structure, the novel jumps back and forth in time, blurring the lines between past and present.
The seed for Jazz came from a surprising place. While working on a book of photographs, The Harlem Book of the Dead , Morrison came across an image of a young woman who had been shot by her lover. The caption explained that she was shot at a party but refused to identify her killer, saying she would tell the authorities "tomorrow." She died that night. This tragic, romantic, and haunting image of a young woman protecting her lover at the cost of her own life became the emotional core of Dorcas’s character. Jazz Toni Morrison Full Text Pdf