Biblical Illusions in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon Essay example

People choose names for a reason, whether it is so that the child takes on a certain personality, based on who they are named after, or so that he or she may carry on the name of a beloved family member. Many names that are popular today are names from the Bible, since most of the biblical characters possess characteristics that parents would want their child to have. Names like Noah, Jacob, David, and Miriam, are names currently in the top 1000 child names in the world, and they are all biblical names. Names from the Bible are also found in many works of literature, like Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, a coming of age story about a young man during the mid twentieth century. The reader is introduced to multiple characters with biblical

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”.

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

The first main parent child conflict is how Leah wants her father’s affection. She mainly wants to be accepted and praised by her father but he continually ignores her when she does as things right, but then is harshly punished when one of the girls does something wrong. “The dreaded Verse is our household punishment. Other lucky children might merely be thrashed for their sins, but we Price girls are castigated with the Holy Bible”, (59). These punishments cause Leah to question her father but also praise him for everything he does. She wants to her father to give her affection for her helping the family, but instead she is given the “Verse” more than her sisters ever do.

Perseverance and power of the human spirit is another theme that shows up when you are reading this book. Solomon endured so much that he did not want to. At one point in the book, he was forced to whip a fellow slave in front of others. He says in the book, 2“Ten years I toiled for that

In her novel Beloved, Toni Morrison spins an intricate web between names and numbers for the reader to unravel. The deep connection that lies between names and numbers is a direct correspondence to the identity and worth of black people during slavery. Beloved begins with the identity of the house which is characterized by a number. The house is given a temperament as if it is a living, breathing entity and yet it still referred to as a number. The significance of this is symbolic to the plight of the black slaves. Regarded as little above the common animal, slaves were defined by their selling price, essentially they were reduced to a number. Viewed as nonbeings they nevertheless feel and suffer their place in the south. The character Beloved is similar in this regard as well. All that defines her is an age and a name that remains unfluctuating through time. In an insufferable and cruel world, names and numbers play a critical role in understanding the identity of black existence in the South. To uncover the implications and nuances that names and numbers play will be instrumental to delving into the lives of black slaves. Beloved contains a vast amount of names and numbers and the connections between them deepen the novel and provide mammoth insight into understanding and interpreting Morrison’s work and purpose for juxtaposing such elaborate bonds between names and numbers.

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.

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

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.

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

   Song of Solomon tells the story of Dead's unwitting search for identity. Milkman appears to be destined for a life of self-alienation and isolation because of his commitment to the materialism and the linear conception of time that are part of the legacy he receives from his father, Macon Dead. However, during a trip to his ancestral home, “Milkman comes to understand his place in a cultural and familial community and to appreciate the value of conceiving of time as a cyclical process”(Smith 58).

As Hagar’s love for Milkman grows more and more obsessive, Morrison reveals the bitter consequences of life as a woman seeking intimacy in a strictly patriarchal world. In the beginning of the novel, Hagar is associated primarily with her female relatives, Reba and Pilate. Even then, well-fed Hagar declares, “Some of my days were hungry

Pilate Dead, daughter of the first Macon Dead, possesses one of the most interesting names in all of Toni Morrison's novel SONG OF SOLOMON. It carries direct Biblical allusion to the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate, otherwise known as the man responsible for crucifying Jesus. Most of the characters in the book follow very closely in the footsteps of their namesake, meanwhile Pilate does the exact opposite. She refuses the set destiny that accompanies her name, and it shows in everything she does throughout the novel. Pontius delivered Jesus to his enemies, while Pilate Dead saves Milkman from his father before the boy is even born. Another interesting point about Dead's name is that it is not a feminine name, as it was given to the Biblical Roman

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