"Old age and youth cannot live together," writes Christina Stead. This thought is expressed in Toni Morrison's beautifully written book Jazz. In it, Joe an older man of forty years, courts an uninhibited young girl of eighteen. At first they both find what they are looking for in the other, but as time wears on the fickleness of youth takes over and the girl Dorcas abandons the relationship and her lover Joe. This devastates him and Joe resolves to kill Dorcas. Dorcas' youth entices Joe and makes him feel young again and Dorcas finds excitement in the secrecy of their relationship, but the excitement wears away and in the end, Dorcas longs for a relationship where others envy her.

Dorcas entices Joe with her youthfulness and gives him the feeling of new found youth. He associates Dorcas and her youth with candy and, he calls her "the peppermint...