Jazz: Section 6, True Belle

This section begins with the story of True Belle, who had left a slave, but “returned in 1888 a free woman” (138). Unfortunately, this is directly after Rose’s husband has signed a paper certifying men rights to repossess all property belonging to his wife and children. The book even speaks of the possibility that the men had “the duty to do it, if the rain refused to rain, or if stones of ice fell from the sky instead and cut the crop down to its stalks” (138). This is strange, for it is almost justifying the men’s actions of what they have done to Rose. True Belle finds the family in disarray and in horrible conditions. The story mentions how True Belle manages to remain alive for eleven years, which allows her to accomplish all that she needs with Rose Dear and Vera Louise.
The novel then moves on to Vera Louise, who has had an illegitimate child with a black man, and names him Golden Gray. He is a quiet boy at first, but when he learns of his black father at age eighteen, he sets out “to find, then kill, if he was lucky, his father” (143). Golden feels rejected by Vera Louise, as it seems to him that she would have abandoned him, “but he’s golden. Completely golden!” (148).However, on his journey, he comes across a naked, pregnant, black woman, who knocks herself unconscious trying to run away. He carries her to his carriage, not because he is a hero, but because he compares her to his horse, and would feel ashamed of leaving her there. He does make sure, though, that she is leaning the opposite way of him in the carriage, making sure she does not touch him. Even upon entering the house of Henry LesTroy, his first steps are making sure he looks presentable, rather than checking on the woman. Despite his distaste for her, he is even now making up a story portraying him as a hero who “driving along, saw and saved this wild black girl” (154).
Racism affects all of the characters’ lives deeply. In Joe’s case, several of his seven changes