Analysis Of Toni Morrison 's ' Song Of Solomon '

Another way in which Morrison infuses a biblical connection into her works is through the naming of the children in the Dead family. When describing the names of the children she writes, "He had cooperated... with the blind selection of names from the Bible for every child other than the first born male. And abided by whatever the finger pointed to..." This is the reason for the naming of his other two children (Milkman, or Macon, being the first born male), Magdalene from Mary Magdalene, and First Corinthians, from "The Book of Corinthians."

Toni Morrison, author of the novel Beloved wrote this novel to demonstrate the harsh treatment and corruption towards slaves which caused it to be banned. Society at times exaggerates their opinions over books, and they do not realize what these classics could teach future generations, to not execute the same mistakes of the past.

In the opening chapter of the 1977 novel Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, the author presents a distant relationship between Macon Dead and his estranged sister, Pilate. Macon is shown staring into the window of his sister’s house, watching Pilate, her daughter Reba, and granddaughter Hagar. By simply observing them from the outside of their house, he demonstrates the complex relationship between himself and the family members he is watching. Morrison conveys this conflicted relationship through his use of setting, musical motif, and symbolism behind “Dead”.

They facilitate a deeper understanding about the characters and tell stories that would otherwise be missed without the connotations of these names. Generally, names are very important in that they describe what a thing or a person is, and this book takes it further. While any name has some meaning or reason behind it, names in Song of Solomon have stories behind them that directly relate to the

Selfishness and greed would have to be a common trait for humans. Milkman, in Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, happens to demonstrate both of these traits. Milkman is selfish and would never stop to help others. He goes on a journey in search for gold, which this journey helps milkman to not only change his view of life, but also to find out a few things about his family. Greed lead Milkman to this journey and finding out about his family’s history. The original plan for this journey was for milkman to stumble over some gold, which later transforms his personality from self-important and mean to caring and thoughtful.

While Milkman is searching for his family’s history in Shalimar, he encounters the song about his ancestors Solomon’s flight. Another example of selective perception, even though Solomon abandoned his family and his community, the fact that he escaped slavery turned him into a religious figure in Shalimar. Milkman describes Shalimar as a place where “everything was named Solomon” (302). However, the thing that really caught Milkman’s attention was a song sung by children about his grandfather and great grandparents and how his great grandfather Solomon flew. The town being named after Solomon shows the respect the people have for the escapee, even though it has been close to a century since the abolition of slavery, but because he is the one of the few people who did escape to the north during before abolition, escaping oppression, he is still

Toni Morrison’s novel, Song of Solomon, encompasses many themes that were prevalent in the other novels written in the same time period. Morrison produced this novel in 1977 just as racial issues and discrimination were at its peaks. “She [Morrison] was the first African American to receive the Noble Prize in Literature.” (Milliman 5) However, the setting of the story is in the 1930s when World War II was taking place. The novel is based on an African-American family residing in Michigan who are victims of racism and social discrimination. The story focuses on Milkman Dead, the main character, who is naïve and leaves his family and friends behind to become an independent, wealthy upperclassman. “Milkman discovers the intricacies of his

In Morrison's novel, the father sees love as ownership. After Milkman begins working for him, he is "delighted. His son belongs to him now and not to Ruth(63)." In addition, the father wishes for his son to focus less on education and more on the "American Dream". He tells Milkman, "Let me tell you right now the one important thing you'll ever need to know: own things. And let the things you own own other things. Then you'll own yourself and other people too(55)." Milkman's father did not have any respect for college graduates. He believed that "college was time spent

Macon Dead, Pilate, Reba, Hagar, First Corinthians, Milkman, Circe and Guitar. Toni Morrison, author of Song of Solomon, has a greater purpose for using these unique names. From the onset of the novel, Morrison’s use of names is significant and deliberate throughout the text. For instance, Not Doctor Street, originally named Mains Street acknowledging the only black doctor the city allowed, hints at the social tensions between black and white people in this society. Additionally, the name “Blood Bank” was chosen to describe a rough part of the city.

It can be said that Song of Solomon is bildungsroman which is defined by The Encyclopedia Britannica as “a class of novel that deals with the [coming-of-age or] formative years of an individual”. Furthermore, in a bildungsroman, a main protagonist usually undergoes some transformation after seeking truth or philosophical enlightenment. In Morrison’s novel, the plot follows the main protagonist Milkman as he matures within his community while developing relationships with others and discovering his individual identity. In an essay titled Call and Response, Marilyn Sanders Mobley notes that “What Song of Solomon does ultimately is suggest that a viable sense of African American identity comes from responding to alternative constructions of

When Milkman, the central figure of Toni Morrison’s novel Song of Solomon, fantasizes about finding his fortune, he thinks only of spending money, gambling, and endless women to lie with and leave. Even with the prospects of freedom, power and fame, for what else can vast wealth truly purchase, he is unable to conceive of a future for himself. He imagines only an endlessly comfortable, banal present. It’s hard to fault him for this shortcoming. No one in Milkman’s world has any future at all. The half-lives they lead leave room only for the past, and a half-remembered one at that.

Like what Odyssey and the Bible had featured, the novel Song of Solomon was a complex narrative structure with several mixtures of tales which had sufficiently filled the past but left the present in seemingly confusing state. It was this very contradiction that was loved by the readers of Toni Morrison's literary works. It was Morrison's usage of names that hides the real identity of her

When someone looks up at a bird they see something soaring through the sky free from the world’s troubles. Through out man’s history they have been trying to find a way to be as free as birds and learn to fly. Unfortunately it has been an unsuccessful feat for man to accomplish. Although man has never really been able to fly on their own, they are able to fly with the help from a little machinery and ingenuity. Macon Dead Jr, or milkman, the nickname he adopted because he nursed from his mother, the protagonist of Song Of Solomon by Toni Morrison, had been trying to fly all of his life. But until he discovers his family’s history and his self-identity he unable to discover the secret that has

In Toni Morrison’s award-winning novel “Song of Solomon,” she fills the novel with deep symbolism. Macon Dead III, nicknamed “Milkman,” is a symbolic character throughout the novel. Not only is he as a character symbolic, but his name is as well. Milkman’s aunt, Pilate, has a significant and symbolic role in the novel. To her father, she represents the child who killed her own mother and took away his wife. In the Bible, Pontius Pilate is the Roman who is responsible for the execution of Jesus. With that information, one can say that the name Pilate seems to coincide with her father, Macon Dead’s, opinion on what Pilate represents. What’s ironic is that Pilate is a good person and is murdered in the end, just as Jesus was by Pontius Pilate. Guitar, Milkman’s best friend, is another significant character in the novel who portrays deep symbolism. Guitar is named after something that he wanted very badly as a child. “I saw it when my mother took me downtown with her. I was just a baby. It was one of those things where you guess how many beans in the glass jar and you win a guitar. I cried for it, they said. And always asked about it.” This unreachable goal describes his character throughout the novel. He is never able to overcome the obstacles that stand

20th century literature is reinforced by anger. Toni Morrison is one of the most magnificent novelists who has written some of demanding fiction and imperfection of the modernism. Morrison's writings get down on African communities, especially their cultural identity and inheritance. Through out Morrison's novel, she has never depended on whites for main characters. This novel contains a number of autobiographical elements.