Theme Of Character Development In Song Of Solomon

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

The abandonment and betrayal of women has been seen throughout history and novels, including Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison. Morrison uses the relationship of Macon Dead II and Ruth to express this in her book. Morrison also expresses how women are to reliant on their men for support, she uses Pilate to show this. Macon Dead II and Ruth are married and the parents of Milkman, the protagonist of the novel. The novel starts out in 1931, the birth of Milkman and narrates his life till about 1962. They are a middle to lower class African American family living in Michigan. The theme abandonment of women is shown through the relationship of Macon Dead II and

People often admire and yearn for the natural state of bliss a child has due to their ignorance of what 's going on around them. Although it is said that ignorance is bliss, but it is not always a good thing. As an adolescent, that bliss works to your advantage, but as a person gets older it only hinders your growth. Most times one does not know that they have remained stagnant until it has become known. In the novel Song of Solomon, by Tori Morrison, Milkman was unaware of his current state until it was made known to him.As a result, he unconsciously came of age through inner and external revelations.

“Doing the right thing takes courage and strength.” (Blair Waldorf). Some people have struggles growing up and cannot express who they truly are because they always tried to hide under someone’s shadow. Throughout the first half of the novel Milkman is the incarnation of an immature young man drifting aimlessly through life. He also inherited some qualities from his father; they both had strong materialistic values, arrogance, his sexist, and aggressive attitude towards women. In Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison uses minor characters in the novel as form of guidance counselor for Milkman’s development.

Although he has left home to become wealthy, his family is still on his mind. When he is unable to find any gold in the cave of the Pennsylvania farm, he starts to think about his family history. In Pennsylvania on his family’s farm, Milkman meets Circe, a woman who helped deliver

Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison, is about a man named Macon Dead. Throughout this novel, however, he is known by all except his father as Milkman because his mother breastfed him until he was in his teens. The novel centers on Milkman's attempt to find himself. His family is a wealthy black family living in a poor black neighborhood, where Milkman's father prohibits Milkman from interacting with most of them, including his aunt. However, he ends up visiting her, and while there, he learns a little about his family's mysterious past and decides to look deeper into it. Throughout his journey into his past, one may notice a large amount of biblical allusions.

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

Milkman was speaking about the peacock that landed on the car while they were planning to steal Pilate’s gold their guilt was waying them down (pg. 183). You have to give up what weighs you down (pg. 179). He is speaking to all those who are trying to escape present problems.

Maturity comes with experiences in life. Some are exposed to those events early while others encounter them in their adulthood. These transitions cause character development within the protagonist, Milkman Dead. In the bildungsroman, or coming of age, novel Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, Milkman evolves from an ignorant and selfish being to a responsible and caring man. While trying to become an independent man, he both socially and personally developed.

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

Perhaps small and seemingly unimportant, but these actions and images can be unpacked further than face value; subtle details planted by Morrison can be used to reveal both the similar and different character traits of Macon and Milkman.

Milkman’s journey to discovering his roots and the history of his family does provide some insight into human behavior especially in regards to how one deals with accepting the fact that one can never truly know someone. For instance, Milkman has known Guitar for most of his life, yet only towards the act two of the book does Milkman learn about Guitar being a part of the Seven Days. Also Milkman only discovers later on in the book about the relationship of his parents, how his father tried to kill him before he was even born or the nature of Ruth and Dr. Foster’s relationship. As well the grander story of Song of Solomon provides more insight into human behavior especially the nature of families through the multiple generations of the Dead family. For instance, the audience with Milkman learns about how greed can change a person as Guitar tries to kill him for gold or how greed can motivate someone like Macon Dead II to be in constant pursuit of wealth.

Although Milkman lived in the Twentieth-Century and is not physically a slave, he is repressed by his family. Milkman's parents love him; however, Morrison refers to their love as an "anaconda love" as they squeeze the life out of Milkman and leave little room for growth and maturity. Ruth Dead is so possessive of Milkman that she continues to breast-feed him long after he should have been weaned as "his legs [were] dangling almost to the floor" (Morrison 13). When Freddie caught them in the act, Milkman "had been rechristened