Shroud of Shadows

Toni Morrison's Playing in the Darl: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination caught my attention, especially when the style of writing differed greatly from her work in The Disappearing Acts.

      In my belief, we would not know what it means for something to be black without knowing, simultaneously, what it means for something to be white. Black and white go hand in hand like love and hate; they are not entirely opposites as they need each other to coexist and we all experience them at least once in our life. The extent to which we experience blackness or whitness depends on the interactions we have with the world around us.
     
      On page 9 Morrison mentions that blackness symbolizes voluptuousness, sinful desires, and sensuality. I also noted it to be important that the effects jazz music has on listeners is specifically described as consequences. Consequences does not necessarily have to mean something bad, but as it is usually used in a negative sense I like to believe that jazz music is seen as something that rakes up something bad. That bad thing is instinct and passion which many humans have tried to suppress to feel more "human". This also goes in to what it means to feel humans. What makes many humans feel superior to creatures around them is their excessive use of reason in decision-making as opposed to instinct. The effects jazz music is also a negative consequence in regards to the instance mentioned in the essay where the music incited a panic attack in the listener.
      I believe using that example was an exemplary way to show the power that black people had over their audience. This power was the ability to extract strong, emotional feelings and desires that their audience tried to keep under control. As Morrison mentioned, this power would show in their music and could have drastic effects on a person's mental and physical states of being like it did with Cardinal. Especially in Cardinal's case she grew up with conflicting views as a French girl living in Algeria during a time of war. She had to fight with her black side which was seen as an evil and her white side which was supposed to be an inherent good. Accepting both of these sides to her was a decision that she could not consciously make, but had to be influenced by some outside force. Music was the outside force in her case.