Anthem of Possession
Possession can be expressed in many forms, some physical and some through things like work and personal debt and gains. This idea of possession is shown throughout Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, a tale that follows the Dead Family during their life in the 1930’s. The story mainly follows Milkman as he travels from Michigan to Virginia to learn the truth about himself. To do so he must confront his father and take control of himself. Although Milkman wants to take control and possession of his life, he must confront his family’s lust for possessions and break away from them, revealed by his grandfather’s journey, he sees the importance of leaving behind the conceptions and prejudice that have dispossessed him. Materialistic possession plays a pivotal role within Milkman’s family and life offering a means of escape from dispossession, despite its eventual development into greed. Early in the book, when Milkman believes that his father was the absolute power within his household, Macon Dead Sr. is telling his family about buying some vacation homes on the lake and selling them to colored folks during the summer. He questions, “Who’s going to live in them?” This questioning tone reveals his distrust of his father and his agreement of the belief that “There’s no colored people who can afford two houses.” (Morrison 33) Milkman sees his father trying to fill and fix his dispossession but doesn't agree with his methods. Here he must confront his father's
Song of Solomon’s protagonist Milkman plays a crucial role in the novel’s major focal point of character development. The novel can be appropriately labeled a Bildungsroman due to its clear and continuous creation of Milkman’s characteristics. Throughout the text readers can see changes made within the character, such as his reactions to situations and the language he uses when he is talking and thinking. Milkman commences the novel as a confused, spoiled young man who feels he deserves the world. However, at a certain point in the novel, it is clear that he reaches an epiphany, a change in heart, that matures him. The pivotal point in Milkman’s moral and psychological development is when he is alone hunting in the mountains. In this
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
Manhood is the defining aspect of a man’s reputation and identity, especially in the life of men who have nothing else left to lose. Toni Morrison illuminates manhood in the manner in which a man upholds or crediblizes his manhood; she enlightens this reality by thoroughly mentioning that manhood is not only credible by the gruesome physical experience a man endures, but their sustainability and mettle. Beloved centers around the life of former slaves, and the traumatic experiences as well as the resiliency they must cope with. In the novel Beloved, Morrison uses Paul D’s strong mindset and horrifying experiences to subconsciously shape his heartening and empathetic
Personalities are not predetermined, but developed over time based on social commodities like family situations or lifestyles. Traumatic or memorable moments, like barbarity, also shape individuals’ character. In Song of Solomon, through Macon’s use of violence and the effect of brutality on Milkman, Toni Morrison reveals how cruelty and actions define roles in society and how it affects the characteristics of individuals.
Macon jr.’s father, Macon Dead sr., began milkman’s curiosity about his family’s history. Macon Dead sr., puts his personal fears on Macon jr., making it harder for him to find his personal identity. Macon Dead sr. became obsessed with money after his father, Jake, was shot and killed for his property. This devastating event from his childhood made him close-fisted, insensitive, and stingy. Macon Dead sr. becomes a money hungry machine, because he does not want to suffer the same fate as his father. Macon Dead sr. does not to tell
In Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, Pilate Dead is labeled as the forbidden aunt in the novel; Macon regards her of little worth by calling her a snake. Yet she possesses a mystical quality that holds other characters in the book such as Macon Jr., Milkman and Guitar “spellbound” (37). Milkman Dead lives a life of higher status than that of his destitute aunt, yet he is drawn to Pilate and intrigued by her outlandish characteristics rather than being let down by her lack of a comfortable lifestyle. The gravitating pull Pilate has on Milkman is shown when Macon Jr. forbides Milkman from visiting his aunt. She is more appealing to Guitar and Milkman because of “all those unbelievable but entirely possible stories about his father's sister/ the woman his father had forbidden him to go near/ had both of them spellbound” (37). Pilate is like the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Her eccentric ways and the mere fact that she is forbidden to Milkman makes her all the more tempting. It is because of her strange ways that she is first introduced to Milkman, planting a seed to his self-discovery. Pilate’s mystical influence on Milkman grows stronger from the time they first meet at her house to the end of the novel where her transforming powers lead him to realize that it is because of her satisfaction with her lifestyle that she does not need to fly. Pilate’s association with nature imagery, her connection to her African origins, and her love of others, push Milkman to come to
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
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
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
Repression of memories is a psychological concept that has haunted modern psychology for years. Repression of memories also known as “rememory” defined by the mind pushing away traumatic or shocking experiences into a dark corner of a person’s unconscious. As this idea developed and began to be studied more thoroughly, slavery became an institution in which researchers saw promise in drawing conclusions about the dangers of repressing memories. In Toni Morrison’s novel, Beloved, the character narratives of Paul D and Sethe exemplify the dangers of repressing memories. Both disconnect from and push away unwanted emotional traumas or experiences from their past. However, this effort doesn’t pay off and their repression of memories is not successful. Through the use of symbols such as Paul D’s tobacco tin and Sethe’s scars and lost child, Morrison demonstrates how repression of the past isn’t effective and how it always comes back to haunt a person who doesn’t correctly cope with their trauma. Paul D and Sethe live unfulfilled lives as a result of repressed memories.
The word racism can be broken down into two things: hate and discrimination. These words bind this world together while they also tear it apart. Some may feel so much hatred that it slowly overpowers their inner thoughts and body. But not all deal with racism this way. Some choose to escape the overwhelming pressure and circumstances, others choose to fight. In the book Song of Solomon written by Torri Morrision, she examines characters that exhibit these characteristics. The choices will always come down to two, you either fight or fly.
Ownership, class structures, and consumerism go hand in hand. Morrison illustrates this throughout the novel and in the characters' identities. Many of the characters identify themselves based on material possessions: the simple ownership of a car, the use of consumer products, and property ownership. Although African Americans may take these things for granted now, in the early 1900's this would be considered a major accomplishment.