To keep an artistic perspective on the fictional Sethe, Morrison departed from the story of the real Margaret Garner, who was returned to her owner. Morrison fictionalizes the scene in which the cruel slavemaster known only as "schoolteacher" returns to Kentucky without Sethe and her children, but the book's dedication reminds the reader that, at heart, Morrison deals with reality. The "sixty million and more" she refers to in the dedication are the victims of two centuries of slavery, the ones who did not escape drowning, disease, sharks, whipping, mutilation, burning, boiling, rape, emasculation, starvation, and other horrors. Justifying her choice of the highest number of victims that scholars offer, Morrison explained, "I didn't want to leave anybody out."
In 1992, Morrison published Jazz, the story of Joe Trace; his wife, Violet; and his lover, Dorcas, whom he murders. The book is set against events in African American history from 1880 through 1926, with much of the main story taking place in Harlem in the 1920s. The novel explores the themes of community, artistic expression, and personal growth, using blues and jazz to represent the importance of change.
Morrison continued her exploration of the black community in 1998's Paradise. The novel explores the history of Ruby, Oklahoma, an all-black town where its residents learn that isolating themselves from the rest of the world does not guarantee freedom from oppression or exclusion.
Currently, Morrison devotes a great deal of time to a host of speaking engagements plus honorary memberships in organizations such as the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, New York Public Library, Helsinki Watch Committee, and the advisory council of New York's Queens College.
