Analysis Of Toni Morrison's Song Of Solomon

In Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, both Susan and Milkman strive to escape reality, but do so in fundamentally different ways. Susan, despite her mixed roots and black relatives, harbors visible distaste towards people with black skin, and desperately tries to separate herself from her own blackness. Paradoxically, the more she attempts to dissociate herself from her identity, the more entrenched in her ancestry she becomes. In contrast, Milkman attempts to run away from the false narrative imposed upon him by his father’s occupation and whiteness in his search for a “pot of gold”. While he does not ultimately find the “pot of gold”, he does find himself, literally running toward his heritage and the black town of Shalimar.

In Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, an African American man named Macon Dead III, also known as Milkman, struggles to find the truth behind his name and background. Milkman and his broken family live on the Southside of Michigan. His mother, Ruth Foster, suffers from the lack of intimacy with her husband and uses her son as a coping mechanism. His father, Macon Dead Jr., is a materialistic man who does not want to endure the same fate as his father, Macon Dead Sr.(who had been murdered for his land, Lincoln’s Heaven.) Neither of the parents give his two sisters, Magdalena and First Corinthians, attention, leading them to envy Milkman for being the center of their world.

Names that bore witness”(330). Throughout the book we see Milkman struggle to accept his family's past betrayal and slavery. But by the end of the book Milkman finally realizes the capacity of his family

Within society, materialism is often associated with success and prosperity. In the novel Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, there was a pattern of how even though the most successful characters were also the most materialistic, they were not always the happiest. Two characters that were at either end of the scale of materialism were Macon and Pilate. These very different lifestyles that Macon and Pilate lived, Macon being heavily materialistic and Pilate not at all, caused them to develop different attitudes that were influenced heavily by materialism. Through the analysis of the mystery of Pilate’s and Macon’s lifestyles, Morrison illustrates that materialism destroys people and prevents them from achieving freedom.

In Song Of Solomon by Toni Morrison, the setting takes place near Lake Superior in Detroit, Michigan around the black community. The story revolves around the character Milkman who is born in a wealthy colored family. The motif of flight plays a significant role in Milkman’s action in his journey. The motif flight represents escape from one's life burdens, freedom and life. Throughout Milkman’s journey to become more independent, and learn his family history.

Toni Morrison’s novel Song of Solomon is an examination on the importance of self-identity in African-American society and the effects of a name. Names and labels are used to describe and symbolize people, places, and things, serving as a brief definition of the subject. Toni Morrison uses this definition in order to analyze the effects redefining or naming had on African Americans heritage and culture after their emancipation. Throughout the story, the central protagonist Macon Dead III or Milkman, searches his family’s history to reclaim his past and recreate himself. America’s history of slavery and it’s lasting effects have allowed African-American society and cultural identity to be dictated by the white majority.

Milkman discovers his family name and history, and while on his journey, Milkman finds happiness, understanding, and a sense of identity. While the actual findings of his family is important, Milkman’s discovery of his own identity through his family’s history is the true take-away from the

Holzman writes, “If you want it [milk] so bad, get it yourself, the milk train doesn’t stop here anymore” (27). The actor is working late nights and rarely gets to see the actress and their new born baby. Holzman writes, “Hey, stranger, if you’re not too busy, could you call Eugenia tonight, around bedtime? Just to see if she recognizes your voice?”

When Toni Morrison began her novel, Song of Solomon, she introduces her readers to a world in which Caucasian Americans have full power over their African American neighbors. Detailing the pessimistic treatment of African Americans, readers come to believe in the stereotypical “weak, black man,” of African Americans who allow themselves to be dominated, who see the dangers that are forced upon them and bow down to them, obliging to the torture and prejudice they face every day. This portrait of acceptance is broken, torn into a million pieces when Morrison goes in depth into the secondary character of her novel, Guitar, during the sixth chapter. In the previous 154 pages of Song of Solomon, Guitar is elucidated as simply the best friend of the main character, Milkman, as someone who is only present in the tale to listen to the problems of his friend and give knowledgeable advice. Until chapter 6, Guitar is nothing but a clear definition of “best-friend-forever,” someone who helps the main character but does nothing else, while Milkman is the reverse of him as he gets receives all of the attention of Morrison, detailing his character traits and identity.

In the book Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, the book is a very good representation of the racial lens. The racial lens is a lens that has to deal with with racial slurs or sequences the character in the book encounter. Milkman is Guitar's best friend, and due to the fact that Milkman was always wealthy from birth and he lived on the other side of town, Milkman does not understand how someone could be so radicalized as Guitar is. Throughout the book, we can see how Guitar was always passionate about his race since his childhood, and how what white people have done has really affected him life. When Guitar’s father died in a brutal accident at his father’s work place, a white man came to tell him and his family and offered Guitar candy for his father's death.

Milkman also is motivated to change after Magdalene’s says “you have pissed your last in this house” and he states that “it was good advice…why not take it” (354). While Milkman does not completely transform after this exchange he still grows to become a better person in time and no longer exploits the labor of his

(Morrison 130). Through his condescending tone and actions towards Hagar, it becomes evident that Milkman lacks respect for women, as he views them as socially inferior. He objectifies Hagar and discards her immediately upon losing interest, which unfortunately forces Hagar to suffer the same fate as her biblical parallel, who was banished upon bearing a child to Abraham. Ironically, Milkman fails to realize that his neglective behavior was ultimately the motivating source for the negative change induced upon Hagar. Her inevitable downfall serves to highlight the extent of Milkman’s harm through the infliction of

Without knowing it, the nickname of Milkman became embedded into Macon Jr’s life. The literal implication of “Milkman” is a person who delivers milk to peoples houses. However, in this sense, Milkman is nicknamed based off of an experience is did not know was happening. Due to his demeanor, Freddie sexualizes the act he saw and portrays this to the rest of the community. “Natural,” stemming from the Latin word natus, meaning birth, gives the undertones of a trivial or rudimentary deed, similar to the basic instinct of breastfeeding.

Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon is a novel that is set in the 20th century, Michigan which follows the life of Macon Dead III, who gets the nickname milkman. His sisters are Magdalene, who is called Lena, and First Corinthians. His parents are Ruth and Macon Dead Jr. Unlike most African American families during this time period, the Dead family were financially stable and could afford things that were deemed luxurious. Even though they had money, they still were unhappy with their lives. This shows that you can be living ,but you can also be dead.

Furthermore, Ruth’s endless, captivating love restricts Milkman and thwarts his personality’s development to a mature man. His search for his self cannot be satisfied at home since he has no space to become independent or is regarded as a separate