A synopsis with some discussion of the article entitled, "In Search of My Mother's Garden, I Found My Own: Mother-Love, Healing, and Identity in Toni Morrison's Jazz"

The main point of the article deals with the examination of the mother-child relationship of Violet and Rose Dear, and Joe and Wild, as well as how the loss of the mother figure causes the displacement of the child's developing self. Both Joe and Violet sought to forget and find their lost mothers through denial and substitution. The author of the article states, "Jazz is thus a story about the wounding and healing of unmothered …

…Through Dorcas' death, Joe is able to move past losing his mother. The author concludes her article with this, "Jazz affirms and celebrates the maternal in both life and language. The deep psychological wounds of unmothered children remind us of how essential mothering is for our emotional well-being...While the hand that rocks the cradle may not rule the world, it leads us back to our past and points the way to our future." (p. 377).