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Definition of Stream of Consciousness
Stream of consciousness is a style or technique of writing that tries to capture the natural flow of a character's extended thought process, often by incorporating sensory impressions, incomplete ideas, unusual syntax... read full definition
Stream of consciousness is a style or technique of writing that tries to capture the natural flow of a character's extended thought process, often by incorporating... read full definition
Stream of consciousness is a style or technique of writing that tries to capture the natural flow of a character's... read full definition
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Violet's Perspective:
Early in Chapter 4, as Violet considers her husband's betrayal and becomes increasingly obsessed with Dorcas, Morrison includes two pages of stream-of-consciousness narration from Violet's first-person perspective. Though initially frantic and propulsive, this narration humanizes Violet even in an extreme situation.
The shift from third to first person occurs in the middle of a long paragraph that stretches from the bottom of page 93 to the middle of page 97. At the beginning of this paragraph, in the third person, Violet refers to herself as split in two: there is herself, thinking rationally and working through her emotions, and there is "that Violet," who attacked Dorcas's corpse. This split matches the way some community members call her "Violent." In the middle of the paragraph, Violet considers this split:
...with a tiny stem like a flower in between while her hand, the one that wasn't holding the glass shaped like a flower, was under the table drumming out the rhythm on the inside of his thigh, his thigh, his thigh, thigh, thigh, and he bought her underwear with stitching done to look like rosebuds and violets, VIOLETS, don't you know, and she wore it for him thin as it was and too cold for a room that couldn't count on a radiator to work through the afternoon, while I was where?
At the end of this angry, run-on, frantically repetitive sentence, Violet suddenly begins narrating in the first person; in doing so, she splits the paragraph itself in two as well. This moment leads to nearly two pages of intense first-person narration as Violet thinks more and more about Dorcas and Joe. Eventually, she realizes that "that Violet is me!"
This moment of stream of consciousness articulates the intensity of Violet's emotions and eliminates the division between a rational Violet and an uncontrollable "Violent." Stream of consciousness is a device which is often used to bring readers closer to characters: by sharing thoughts and observations, readers can empathize with and understand characters more intimately. By using stream of consciousness in this passage, Morrison demonstrates that Violet and Violent are in fact both parts of a larger identity. She allows readers access to the difficulty and humanity of struggling to process complex and intense emotions, and, in doing so, helps readers understand Violet's strange act of violence. By better understanding Violet, readers are able to empathize with her even in this extreme scenario. This act of empathy contributes to Morrison's larger argument that people are "original, complicated, [and] changeable."
Related Themes:
