Song Of Solomon Critical Analysis

The utilization of traditional and non-traditional gender roles in the novel “Song of Solomon” written by Toni Morrison shows the influences, expectations and impact that the gender roles have and place not only on the individual characters but on men and women in general and within the different communities.

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”.

Growing up is a journey, to be specific it 's a journey in a maze. We go around in different directions in hopes to find out who we indeed are. Left to right in every direction we run into things that change our mindset and by the end of the maze, we are entirely different people. Most mazes have doors; open one door new beginning, shut another end of that chapter. Specific events in life alter our young minds, and we tend to grow from these experiences. Personal and social encounters come our way and turn us into adults. Milkman in the novel Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison goes through various incitements and awakenings that force him to change his ways and enhance his

While it is seen that Milkman is looking for his inner self, he wasn 't trying to accept his outer appearance and struggles that came with his complexion. One-day Milkman and his friend Guitar were discussing the tribulations of the blacks in the south. Guitar poses the question of what Milkman would do if Pennsylvania, where they currently reside, was to become like Montgomery, Alabama. Milkman then responds with, "Buy a plane ticket." (Morrison 104) As a result of growing up wealthy and being sheltered from troubles, Milkman has this mentality that his money will be his ticket out of everything including racial issues. Guitar tries to help him see past his money, that his money does not erase the racial prejudices Caucasian people have about blacks. Guitar tries to demonstrate the idea that your problems don 't leave just because you do. While also attempting to make Milkman acknowledge the fact that his skin isn 't green but brown.

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

Guitar Bains has been Milkman's best friend since they were children. The two share many memories and through them developed a strong bond. As Guitar and

Just like his father, Milkman tried to be blind to the racial issues that go on in his world. Being self-absorbed with his life doesn’t believe certain racial issues affect him. He comes from a wealthier family than the people in his community. When Milkman started working for Macon Jr., he started hanging out with Guitar more. This is when we see the obvious difference in their mentalities. In Chapter 3, Guitar and Milkman are in the barbershop and the men are talking about the murder of Emmitt Till. While Guitar and the other men feel passionately about the subject, Milkman tunes out the conversation and believe that it doesn’t affect him personally. As they grow up, Guitar continues to fuel a hate for white people and join a group called the Seven Days. This group performs any violent acts against whites to avenge the injustices caused against African-Americans. There are only seven men in the group and each

The African American families in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon present abnormality and dysfunction. Normalcy, seen in common nuclear families, is absent. The protagonist, Milkman, is shaped by his dysfunctional relationships with parental figures.

Initially, Milkman’s journey leads him down a path that resembles cultural influences of mainstream America. This is the same direction in which his father, Macon Dead, Jr. navigates his life—seeking wealth, prosperity, and likeness to White Americans while remaining undisturbed by the problems inherent to his community. Milkman tries to imitate this characteristic of his father’s until he grows older and realizes that one of his legs is shorter than the other which requires him to walk with a limp. At fourteen, “Milkman feared his father, respected him, but knew, because of his leg, that he could never emulate him” (Morrison 63). Once again Milkman’s sense of identity is stumped and while he tries to imitate his father, he becomes different, nonetheless, in his behaviors.

As people grow up, they shape their opinion of themselves as well as their opinion of others around them. These opinions morph over time into self-worth and value. In Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon,” her characters all carry great amounts of influence on one another. Ruth Dead, mother of the protagonist Milkman Dead, lives her life passively and often finds herself at her father’s grave pondering about life. When Milkman approaches her one day about her habits, she responds with a story about his upbringing and her own. Throughout this conversation (p.p.g 124-126) Morrison defines character as being composed of the type of influence one has on others around them. This is explored through Ruth’s changing perspective on her own character as well as the qualities of Pilate and

His father Macon Dead II, or Macon Jr., is a reserved and ambitious man who makes money by renting houses. In the beginning of the novel, the relationship between Milkman and his father is rather strained. Their communication only consists of criticism on the part of Milkman's dad and insignificant comments from Milkman. By the second chapter, Milkman meets his undesired aunt and cousins who he is prohibited from meeting. This changes his outlook on the way his dad is and compels him to be more responsive to his fathers responses, " ...Milkman thought [Macon] was the biggest thing in the world. Bigger even than the house they lived in. But today he had seen a woman who was just as tall and who had made him feel tall too" (Morrison 50). Being the youngest of the family, Milkman was never subjected to the harsh things that happened between his family or the outside world. Therefore, he knew that if he wanted answers from his family members, he would have to stand up to his father. This is exactly what he did when he asks his dad about his grandfather. Surprisingly, throughout the story, Milkman's dad starts talking with a compassionate voice while reminiscing about his childhood and the relationship he had with his sister. Milkman is left wondering what happened between his aunt, Pilate, and his father to make him be very violent and

In Song of Solomon Toni Morrison tells a story of one black man's journey toward an understanding of his own identity and his African American roots.  This black man, Macon "Milkman" Dead III, transforms throughout the novel from a naïve, egocentric, young man to a self-assured adult with an understanding of the importance of morals and family values.  Milkman is born into the burdens of the materialistic values of his father and the weight of a racist society.  Over the course of his journey into his family's past he discovers his family's values and ancestry, rids himself of the weight of his father's expectations and society's limitations, and literally learns to fly.

Milkman is finally set free of his ignorance as he embraces the ghosts of his heritage (Brown). On what was supposed to be a quest to find his family’s “inheritance”, Milkman discovers “that it is not gold that is at stake, but an oral cultural document of familial and communal history” (Rothberg). In his journey to the south, Milkman changes the focus of his mission from wealth to uncovering the familial history. He meets Circe, the woman who used to take care of his father and aunt, who advices him to discontinue listening to the “muck” that weighs him down. Milkman quits running and begins to comprehend his ancestry (Fulton). In the birthplace of his great grandfather, Solomon also known as Shalimar, Milkman stumbles upon a

Toni Morrison's novel, Song of Solomon, tells the story of Macon "Milkman" Dead, the son of the richest black man in town. In part one of this novel we learn about Milkman and the relationships with those around him. He spends most of his life despising his mother because of stories his father has told him, which he finds out later may not be true. He basically ignores his sisters for the majority of his life and they in return feel as if he walks all over them. The only relationship he has with his father is a working and monetary one.

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison focuses heavily on the theme of flight. It focuses so heavily on human flight, in fact, that the story moves into the genre of magical realism. Many characters go through varying definitions of flight all throughout the story. The story begins with the Flight of Robert Smith and ends with the flight of Milkman. Flight can refer to simply escaping, suicide, abandonment, or even literal human flight.