Song of Solomon Passages 1. Milkman asks to borrow Guitar’s pad for the night, so he can hide from Hagar. The next morning, this passage is directed from an observer’s point of view and illustrates Milkman’s concern with the knowledge his father brought upon him. This knowledge comprises of his mother’s secrets (later known to be false), and displays her in a negative light. The desire to “escape” in this passage can be seen as significant in that it promotes the theme of flying and escaping, which is central to the novel. The men in Milkman’s family, including his grandfather, Solomon, and his father, Macon Jr., are examples of people who have “fled” in pursuit of freedom or wealth. Later on in the novel, we see Milkman himself escape from …show more content…
Not Doctor Street to the depths of his family history in places like Michigan and Virginia, essentially making escape a major theme. Additionally, the imagery in the first two sentences helps to characterize Milkman as egotistical and flawed. The conflicting images of death and him lying in the sunlight essentially show the reader how Milkman does not take his death thoughtfully or seriously and is unusual. Additionally, he claims he is a “garbage pail for the actions and hatreds of other people.” This image helps to illustrate both the lack of identity Milkman feels when he is exposed to various people’s experiences and actions, and his desire to isolate himself from the concerns of others, rather than being a garbage pail open for everyone. 2. Milkman decides to leave Michigan and go to Macon’s old Pennsylvania farm in search of gold, after failing to discover any in Pilate’s house. In this passage, he is walking to the Circe’s house and reminisces about the airplane ride and feelings he experienced. The feelings he experiences, including exhilaration and invulnerability, help foreshadow how Milkman will begin to feel enthusiastic when learning about his family’s history. He is finally describing things with more positive imagery and tone, and thus calls the airplane a “glistening bird.” This symbol once again nurtures the theme of flying away from suffocating circumstances and escaping. He starts to become independent as a person when he wishes Guitar could’ve been there too, but suddenly rejects the idea and wants to go “solo.” This clarifies that Milkman feels freedom when set apart from real life and his past, as his friends and family all constrain him. This contributes to the theme of flying in the novel in that although flying can help you escape circumstances, it can greatly affect those left behind, especially women. Later in the novel we see how Hagar dies in response to Milkman’s flight. This can be seen even between Solomon and Ryna. After Solomon flies to escape slavery, Ryna is left behind and begins to go mad without him. Hence, flying can also be seen as a detrimental activity in the novel to women, like Ryna and Hagar. 3. Racism is a major theme in the novel that is brought up repeatedly in conversations between Guitar and Milkman. Both encompass contrasting attitudes towards civil rights and African Americans, therefore lending itself to long and progressive conversations. This passage is one where Guitar is claiming that not all whites are violent because they don’t have the opportunity to oppress. He even exaggerates the fact that all whites are oppressive because it’s “in the structure of their chromosomes.” By saying this, he appears to be racist and superficial which is very ironic in the novel and its context. This also serves as characterization and shows how all the violence done to Blacks had affected Guitar to become such a ruthless killer and lose his sense of humanity. Moreover, the diction in the passage is very sharp including words like unnatural, depravity, tragedy, and disease. The words “unnatural” and “tragedy” refer to how the whites feel about the African Americans, and their appearance. Therefore, whites separate themselves from them to maintain their status and standards. While Milkman believes not all the whites are racist and so cruel, Guitar responds to say they are all the same with his subjective opinions, as he simply wants justice, in a very ferocious way. The sentence structure seems to vary length, but it makes a very strong impact on what he’s trying to say. “I listen. I read.” These short sentences make the point concise but very powerful. Although it’s an exaggerated passage, Guitar does a great job making his point clear. Jane Eyre Passages 1. After realizing she would respect herself more if she left Rochester and bore her suffering alone, Jane Eyre departs Thornfield in a coach. With the little money she has left, she is forced to spend most of her time outdoors with nature. This passage contains tons of imagery that appeals to several senses of the reader. Jane describes the heath as a place of goodness and delicateness where the “dew fell, but with propitious softness.” Diction here is very significant and contributes to nature’s description as delicate and gentle. In the passage, delicate diction includes pure, softness, twinkled, benign, and fondness. Symbolism is also prominent in the novel, as nature serves as Jane’s mother and caretaker. Jane “clung to her with filial fondness.” Jane establishes trust and a mother-daughter relationship with nature in several aspects. One aspect is that nature’s taking her in with no money in return, as only a family would’ve done. This passage defines the home theme, which is central to the novel. Jane is an orphan girl who has been always searching for a home where she can feel comfortable and safe, like she felt in nature. Interestingly though, nature in the novel has provided her with more refuge compared to any indoor environment, as it provided her with ripe bilberries, which cost her nothing compared to the morsel of bread she bought in a town. Later on in the novel though, hunger and chilliness guide her from nature back to civilization. 2.
After being told to leave Thornfield by Rochester, Jane Eyre retorts back by claiming both sexes are equal and how distressed she feels to leave him at such a great distance. This passage being in the first person point of view makes it very powerful and impactful on the reader. Also, she uses argument by comparison, in which she compares both herself and Rochester. She claims they both have soul and heart, and that they both stand at God’s feet “equal.” Moreover, she uses argument by description when she says, “Because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little…” This reminds the reader of her characteristics and helps further the argument that no matter what her background circumstances are, they are still equal. In response to this passage, Rochester proposes to her and asks her to marry him. With the fear that she’ll lose her autonomy and not be valued, she turns down his proposal. There is also symbolism present in the passage when Jane questions, “And can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and drop of living water dashed from my cup?” The morsel of bread and the drop of living water symbolize the things in life everyone should get, despite gender differences, like food and water. There is no reason to differentiate anyone for these values, as they should be available to everyone. In fact, the morsel of bread could represent Mr. Rochester and how Ms. Ingram is taking him away from
her. 3. This is one of my favorite passages of the novel. Rochester and Jane are finally together, even though Rochester is now in a somewhat weaker position with his injuries. But now he is no longer her “master.” This passage to me depicts the equality between both of them. They now fully support each other and depend on one another. The tone in this passage is very satisfied, loving, and happy. She finally found her home where she feels comfortable and safe. There is also a lot of parallel structure in this passage. This essentially helps illustrate the parallelism between them. “Bone of his bone…flesh of his flesh…all my confidence…all his confidence... “ Her sentence structure is also very unique, with the use of colons and hyphens. She wants to further describe their relationship with the use of these grammar icons, and continue her flawless ideas. After this passage, she begins to talk about St. John who now reminds the reader of how Mr. Rochester used to be at the beginning of the novel. But now, without a house, hand, or eyesight, he needs her more than ever. Jane now sacrificed her autonomy and independence, which was a major theme in the novel, to finally give herself to her lover and enjoy the status of equality and love within their relationship. It’s almost like a happy ending to the novel. Everything Is Illuminated Passages 1. I feel this quote from the novel fully reflects Foer’s beautiful writing style and also conveys a major theme of the novel. Memory in the novel can be seen as enlightening for some characters, while constraining others. In this passage, Grandfather is constrained by his past memories, and hence feels sad and depressed. His memories of massacres and war in Kolki hurt him so much that he refuses to recognize them. To help the reader thoroughly feel and experience what Grandfather goes through, Foer uses similes, anaphora, and metaphors. The similes present in the passage are very powerful as they help to describe the heart as originally being a domesticated animal, but now being separated from it, he doesn’t feel himself anymore. The author uses anaphora to emphasize the symptoms he felt when he regains his heart again, “becoming a little heavier, a little weaker.” Metaphorically comparing his rib cage like a cupboard and his potential for happiness being an empty white room, display his potential to opening up again and letting go of the past. However, to him, he feels he doesn’t have any chance of finding happiness. The last line of the passage really speaks to the reader, as it stands out amidst a passage that willingly contradicts the statement of feeling depressed. The author describes his emotional and physical status as being weak and melancholy. Yet, Grandfather instantly claims he is not sad. 2. This passage was one of my favorite passages of the novel as it conveys a sense of hope after much of the novel’s theme of destruction and violence. It shows that through darkness comes light, and through fear comes love. Everyone can become normal once again, even after an extremely traumatic event occurs. The author uses argument by example to illustrate this point. He uses varying syntax to emphasize certain thoughts like “the edge dulls, “ and “the hurt lessens.” Also he uses examples of people who had gone through a loss to further his argument and make it more impactful. Even though each had a loss, they found love in which they could once again live happily within again. This theme of love is another prominent theme in the novel as the characters deal with loss, but realize they must move forward and love the things surrounding them in the present. The concept of illumination is then developed through the theme of love as the later generation characters, like Jonathon and Alex, find solace in the past memories of people from past generations. They both understand their lives in broader context since they clarified and understood their purpose in life: to accept both their past and present and to generate that “illumination” into the future. 3. With Grandfather being my favorite character, my third and final quote had to be one about him. As a reader, I was able to connect with Grandfather and his experiences with guilt on several levels. But with this specific quote, I knew how much an elder person could influence a younger one. As an older sister, many of my actions were observed by my younger sister and had to have a good influence on her. Similarly, Grandfather knew he was responsible for how his son turned out later on in life. When the reader learns that Father is very cruel towards Alex and Jonathon, we experience Grandfather’s guilt for it. This brings about another main theme in the novel, which is a sense of responsibility towards others, illustrated by several characters in the novel. Like Grandfather and myself, Alex also feels a sense of responsibility towards Little Igor as his father cares little and they want to go to America to start anew. When Grandfather says “I wanted to remove him from everything that was bad,” past plays an important role in the novel. At one point in his past, Grandfather decided to murder his best friend to save his own son and wife. This sentimental decision is later analyzed over and over again by Grandfather, illustrating his reminiscent nature. Although Grandfather felt he was a terrible father towards Father, his realization of life and its purpose was something the reader will forever hold onto, and carry with them the rest of their life.
When Milkman goes to Pennsylvania to look for the gold, he was actually in search of his family’s past. One of the themes in the story is how the history of African Americans histories are not clear and unrecorded. The fact that the history of Milkman’s family history is so unclear and unrecorded he goes through a long journey to find it. Along the way he goes through many places and meets many people that help him find his family history.
The idea of complete independence and indifference to the surrounding world, symbolized by flying, stands as a prominent concept throughout Toni Morrison's novel Song of Solomon. However, the main character Milkman feels that this freedom lies beyond his reach; he cannot escape the demands of his family and feel fulfilled at the same time. As Milkman's best friend Guitar says through the novel, "Everybody wants a black man's life," a statement Milkman easily relates to while seeking escape from his sheltered life at home. Although none of the characters in the story successfully take control of Milkman's life and future, many make aggressive attempts to do so including his best friend Guitar who, ironically, sympathizes with Milkman's situation, his frustrated cousin Hagar, and most markedly his father, Macon Dead.
Milkman is the protagonist of the novel and also the embodiment of Morrison's notion of individual self-discovery. Throughout his life Milkman is pulled in all directions by the people around him. His father wants him to work with him, his mother wants him to go to medical school, Hagar wants a serious relationship, Guitar wants him to accept the Seven Days. Milkman rejects all of these options and drifts away from those who want to direct his life. Milkman gains his self-awareness after he leaves Southside and travels to Shalimar. The journey through Danville profoundly changes him. He looses or damages all of his material possessions before he leaves Danville. “Milkman is symbolically stripped of all of the things that connect him to his life in Southside”(Davis 225). However, it is in Shalimar that he undergoes spiritual growth and gains se...
Once upon a time, castles watched the seas and pigs could fly. Often, when we are young fairy tales are read to us to offer happy endings in a world of darkness. They give us one specific ending and put our minds at rest knowing that Belle found her Beast. In Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison, Milkman Dead is not afforded the luxury of his journey having one specific pathway of going through life. Milkman’s story can be seen as a fairy tale with elements of good and bad. His world is trapped in a bubble, and it is not until the fairy tales of other people and books end that he becomes his own fairytale. He finds himself through the twists and turns of his own story. Because of the magical elements within Milkman’s life,
Milkman retains a childlike trait, through his vanity, lack of responsibility, and refusal to leave the past. He always dreams of flying but finds that he has, “Too much tail. All that jewelry weighs it down. Like vanity. Can’t nobody fly with all that shit. Wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down” (179). Morrison tries to show how conceded Milkman at the beginning of his quest for the gold; he is obsessed with material items and money proving that he will never symbolically fly. This vanity portrays Milkman in the light that of a child. Milkman is like a peacock he wants and has the beautiful tail however; while this tail is gorgeous this vanity weighs it down. At this point in time Milkman sees the gold as a way to help him fly and be free from his father, what he is unable to see is the one thing that he thinks will liberate him, is holding him captive. Milkman avoids responsibility at all costs, after hitting his father he saw, “Infinite possibilities and enormous responsibilities stretched out before him, but he was not prepared to take advantage of the former, or accept the burden of the latter” (68). After hitting his father he felt liberated, he was happy that he protected his mother; he was finally stand...
Understanding the concept of individual identity necessitates some comprehension of the motif of flight in Song of Solomon. Flight in the novel alludes to the African-American pursuit for an identity. Before Milkman is born, the novel introduces the scene of Robert Smith, an inconspicuous insurance agent who commits suicide by leaping off the cupola of Mercy Hospital – “flying off on his own wings.” Milkman’s search for an identity begins as ...
Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon is the story of Milkman's search for self. Milkman appears destined for a life of isolation and self-alienation. The Deads exemplify the patriarchal, nuclear family that has been a stable and critical feature of American society. The family is the institution for producing children, maintaining them, and providing individuals with the means to understand their place in the world order. But this nuclear patriarchal family creates many of the problems it should be solving.
Milkman was sent on a journey for himself to find himself. He did not want to grow up and be the man his father has become to be. Through many hardships and difficulties along the way, with the help of Guitar and Pilate, he was able to become independent as well as become one person in himself.
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre chronicles the growth of her titular character from girlhood to maturity, focusing on her journey from dependence on negative authority figures to both monetary and psychological independence, from confusion to a clear understanding of self, and from inequality to equality with those to whom she was formerly subject. Originally dependent on her Aunt Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester, she gains independence through her inheritance and teaching positions. Over the course of the novel, she awakens towards self-understanding, resulting in contentment and eventual happiness. She also achieves equality with the important masculine figures in her life, such as St. John Rivers and Mr. Rochester, gaining self-fulfillment as an independent, fully developed equal.
Milkman experiences a spiritual journey to understand his past and culture, therefore he is awakened as a better man. Morrison’s late coming of age tale through Milkman’s perspective comments that anyone can learn to take flight despite being low-minded and unfocused. The significance of flight as the focus of the novel is a representation of love and surrendering to your mistakes, by embracing familial
The novel Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë, depicts the coming of age of a woman who encounters great hardships, obstacles, and heartbreak. During the Victorian era women were subordinate to men and often times lacked the same opportunities and privileges that society and the family structure gave to men. Although society and the family structure of the Victorian era treated men and women differently, men were also oppressed, experienced suffering, and had to overcome poverty, but due to the masculinity that men were forced to portray during the era often times the hardships of men have been overlooked when analyzing the men in Jane Eyre. The characters John Reed, St. John Rivers, and Edward Rochester suffer various forms of lack and poverty that contributes to their oppressive and suffering nature precipitated by societal and family structure as well as being impoverished by their circumstances throughout the story even though they come across as having wealth and power.
... self-worth. She believes that there is a chance for her to change her future. She had to make certain sacrifices in order to discover her strength, true friendships and her self-worth. She sacrifices her love to preserve her self-worth. After realizing her marriage to Rochester cannot be lawful and will mean surrendering her sense of dignity and virtue, she leaves him. When Jane leaves Thornfield she says “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself” (Bronte 336). In the end, she finds her happiness, as she is now with the man she loves, she preserves her self-worth without sacrificing her integrity.
Jane’s perspective of love is based upon a mutual understanding and equality. Jane’s equality in a relationship is derived from her desire of independence. Jane reveals her need of independence in her relationship with Mr. Rochester when she told him she would always call him master but she would not be inferior to him. Haiyan Gao asserts in her article “Reflection On feminism in Jane Eyre,” “Jane loves Rochester with all her heart and Rochester’s status and wealth make him so high above for Jane to approach, yet she never feels herself inferior to Rochester though she is a humble family teacher.” It is also notable that Jane does not pursue a relationship with Mr. Rochester with the intention of gaining money. Her love is solely based on equality and independence and not status, power, or property. As Heidi Kelchner proclaims in her article “Jane Eyre,” “Although she ranks far below Rochester in social rank and wealth, she feels equal to him in soul, understanding his true nature.” Jane has pure intentions in her marriage with Mr. Rochester as she believes he is her equal and true love. Jane proves that she seeks true love once more when she rejects St. John Rivers marriage proposal. St. John had offered Jane an invitation to become his missionary wife in India. Jane acknowledges that he does not seek marriage for love but instead for religious purposes. Therefore, Jane proposes an alternate plan that allows her to serve as a single, independent missionary and co-worker of John. As Heidi Kelchner affirms Jane’s thoughts in her article “Jane Eyre,” “As St. John’s wife, she fears she would be restrained, and always checked forced to keep the fire of her nature continually low.” She would not be degraded to an object but rather wanted to stand as a strong independent woman. Jane would not accept the humiliated marriage to please St. John’s wishes. She would continue to look for true love based upon
Moseley goes on to say, “Liberty and love are in some way at war in the lives of all of us.” It is not until Jane reaches personal liberation, that she is capable of loving someone else to a full extent. Throughout Jane Eyre Jane must learn how to gain love without sacrificing herself in the process. Orphaned at an early age, Jane becomes used to a lackluster lifestyle without any true value. It is not until she finds love and comfort in her friends at Lowood that her life begins to turn around. Upon meeting Rochester, Jane’s life was only as plain as she made it. She untwines in a world wind romance, ultimately finding the love she craved without losing her self-value.
Women, in all classes, were still living in a world which was misogynistic and male-dominated. Their purpose in life was to produce male heirs and maintain the home by hiring and overseeing servants. It was also taboo for one to marry significantly below one’s social class. This is one reason that Jane is not a conventional heroine for the society of her time. Although, as a governess, she is not considered to be as low as a housemaid, she is still part of the hired help in the house. This is why it is unconventional for her and Mr Rochester to be in a relationship. Yet this is not as peculiar as how Jane Eyre ends their relationship due to her sense of betrayal. It would have been considered extremely foolish for a working-woman’s sense of betrayal to end and turn down a man of great wealth.