Biblical Allusions In Toni Morrison's Song Of Solomon

In Song of Solomon, written by Toni Morrison, deep concern for not only the existence and development of the black community is shown, but also for human beings in general. Questions such as “Why and how are individuals isolated from society?” , “What voice is created in isolation?”, and even “How does an individual resolve conflict between personal ethics and social morality?” strictly apply to Song of Solomon. Milkman, the protagonist, embarks on an unwitting search for his roots and ties to the black community, all while feeling isolated from society.

In the novel, “Song of Solomon”, one of the older sisters of the main character is named First Corinthians. She got her name by her father pointing at a random word in the bible. First Corinthians in the bible is a letter from Paul explaining the resurrection of Jesus to the people. Her full name is actually quite ironic in this instance as her last name is Dead but the actual biblical First Corinthians is about the resurrection or coming back to life of Jesus Christ. The religious implications of her name, however, don’t seem to have any effect on her character.

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.

Certain aspects of life can be explained in full through a single phrase. A proverb. In this case: “like father, like son.” In the novel Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison, Macon Dead III, informally known as Milkman, develops relationships with many other character in his town in Michigan. The most important of which is his relationship with Hagar, who loves Milkman.

Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon beings in a very peculiar manner. The vivid imagery glistens in the novel’s first chapter and has the reader scratching his head wondering what exactly the novel can truly be about. However, the first few conflicts arise in the first chapter instantly hooking to the audience to continue reading the words of Morrison. For example, when Ruth continues to breastfeed her four-year-old child, it serves as a slightly humorous and creepy conflict to catch the reader’s attention. After I finished reading the part about Ruth breastfeeding her four-year-old son, my eyebrows cringed and I became grossed out.

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.

Toni Morrison’s novel Song of Solomon tells the story of Macon “Milkman” Dead, a character completely alienated from his community, his family and his heritage. The readers follow his journey, during which he attempts to find his “inheritance” of gold that his father, Macon Dead, believes was hidden by Pilate Dead. Instead, he travels to the fictional town of Shalimar where his family line began in America in order to fully understand the cultural heritage that has been left for him - in the process experiencing an understanding of the word home. Home is often represented by the motif of cherries, which different people in Milkman’s immediate family - eventually including Milkman encounter throughout the book. Even though these events are

Though God gave Solomon wisdom which in turns brings him many great things, for Solomon still fails to listen to the word of God when God warns him to not worship other Gods. Solomon soon starts to commit sin and this is shown in the verse that states, “Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command” (1 Kings 11:10, NIV). Because Solomon allowed others to influence to turn his back to God, God had another plan for the land of Israel, and as a result of Solomon sin God tells this Solomon in the 1 Kings, “So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates” (1 Kings 11:11, NIV). Even though Solomon had success the narratives focused more on how Solomon sins of worshipping false Gods and his son Rehoboam eventually led to the division of the Kingdom and is played out in 2

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.

Economic privileges generally blind people to the unfavorable social conditions of their community, as wealth is commonly used as a method of physical escape. As a result, many of those belonging to this socio economic strata continue to live under the illusions of an idealistic identity, as they fear to uncover a past that may disrupt their supposed utopian lifestyle. The rare amount of people who defy and challenge the blindness evoked by economic privileges are usually awarded with a mental awakening in which they will uncover a social purpose beyond the pursuit of materialistic wealth. In the Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison explores the social transition of Milkman, a privileged individual, through the use of a spiritual awakening. Due to

Many of the names were chosen from the bible on the day of a child’s birth. Letting God choose a child’s name shows a level of faith in the parents which often results in awkward and weird names. The use of the name, Magdalena called Lena, is similar to the phrasing in the bible in names like Simon called Peter. Toni Morrison put a lot of emphasis into the characters' names in Song of Solomon. The main characters' last name of Dead has a lot of emphasis.

“I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved” (Romans 9:25). Toni Morrison’s Beloved is filled to the brim with allusions, specifically and most often to the Bible. In using a verse from Romans as her epigraph, she sums up the entirety of her novel in a few simple words. The novel is about acceptance and a mother’s love. They who were not previously her people will become known as her people, and those who were not previously loved will become beloved.

He calls himself Qoheleth. Why do this? It was noted at the start that this name contains the idea of calling an assembly together. Solomon wanted his subjects to get back to the truth of how to live before a holy God; something which he himself wandered away from (1 Kings 11:1-11, 33). Clearly a number of Israelites did not fear God and keep his commandments.

She was the sign of misfortune in the entire novel: deprived of sexual interaction with her husband for twenty years, delivering Milkman as a consequence of a shock from a frightening accident, and withstanding the physical violence of her husband even in front of their children. She was never respected or seriously loved by any male characters in the novel—Milkman was ashamed and careless of her, Macon her Husband hated her, and even her father was somewhat embarrassed by their intimacy which Ruth intended. Ironically, she was the daughter of the great Doctor who has a street named after him and the wife of Macon Dead, who is the richest person in town. This contrast emphasizes the tragedy of the character that despite her superior or seemingly advantageous status quo, she still led a miserable life. Morrison quoted that she started the book as an attempt to shatter some of the common stereotypes the 1960s has brought to African American community, which, as she reckons, has left out an enormous portion of the racial character for over-emphasizing the beauty and strength and thereby

The superscriptions inclusion of Solomon can be interpreted in two ways, either as authorial intent, which would give authorship to Solomon, or more likely the Song of Songs is being attributed to Solomon, or Solomonic tradition. Bergant argues, “he seems to function as a symbol of wealth, a standard of comparison, or a fictitious way of according special honor to the man in Song of Songs.” As the text moves on, which will be seen later in this exegetical study, Solomon is not attributed as a noteworthy function within the poem. Therefore, the importance of the Song being attributed to Solomon is because it seems to give credibility to the work as a whole.