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The Importance of Names in Song of Solomon
Abstract: In Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, names have great implication. Language is extremely personal and deeply rooted in culture. Names are an integral part of language, and they help to establish identity, define personality, and show ownership through formal and informal usage.
" 'Tis but thy name that is my enemy; / Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. / What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot, / Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part / Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! / What's in a name? that which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet; / So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd, / Retain that dear perfection which he owes / Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name, / And for that name which is no part of thee / Take all myself."
-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet.
In the play Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare claims that a name is just a name; that it has no real significance. Individual names and the names of cultural and racial groups can be very influential, however, as Malcolm X explains in his On Afro-American History, "So they'll say whites, Puerto Ricans and Negroes. Pick up on that. That's a drag, brothers. White is legitimate. It means what color they are. Puerto Ricans tell you that they're something else, came from somewhere else, but they're here now. Negro doesn't tell you anything" (16). In Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, which describes the tribulations faced by an African American family attempting to define and find themselves, names have great implication. Language is extremely personal and deeply rooted in culture. Names are an integral part...
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...d many important lessons about his past as well. It was possible to see the transformation from materialistic to concerned that Milkman underwent. By coming to terms with his roots, Milkman was able to become whole; to become comfortable with who and what he was. Knowledge is power, and having a name and a history are two of the most powerful things one could have.
Works Cited and Consulted
Bloom, Harold, ed. Modern Critical Views: Toni Morrison. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 1990.
Malcolm X. "On Afro-American History." Audubon Ballroom, Harlem. 24 Jan 1965.
Middleton, David. Toni Morrison's Fiction: Contemporary Criticism. New York: Garland, 1997.
Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New York: Plume, 1987.
Shakespeare, William. Romeo & Juliet. ed. Jane Backman. Lincolnwood: NTC Publishing Group, 1994.
In Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, the character of Milkman gradually learns to respect and to listen to women. This essay will examine Milkman's transformation from boy to man.
The book called Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison, deals with many real life issues, most of which are illustrated by the relationships between different family members.
The Posing of Threats by the Political Right to the Weimar Republic in the Years 1919-25
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Freedom is heavily sought after and symbolized by flight with prominent themes of materialism, classism, and racism throughout Toni Morrison’s novel Song of Solomon. The characters Milkman and Macon Dead represent these themes as Macon raises Milkman based on his own belief that ownership of people and wealth will give an individual freedom. Milkman grows up taking this idea as a way to personally obtain freedom while also coming to difficult terms with the racism and privilege that comes with these ideas and how they affect family and African Americans, and a way to use it as a search for an individual 's true self. Through the novel, Morrison shows that both set themselves in a state of mental imprisonment to these materials
In Song of Solomon Toni Morrison tells a story of one black man's journey toward an understanding of his own identity and his African American roots. This black man, Macon "Milkman" Dead III, transforms throughout the novel from a naïve, egocentric, young man to a self-assured adult with an understanding of the importance of morals and family values. Milkman is born into the burdens of the materialistic values of his father and the weight of a racist society. Over the course of his journey into his family's past he discovers his family's values and ancestry, rids himself of the weight of his father's expectations and society's limitations, and literally learns to fly.
In the African American community, names held a certain importance, and both people and places were given more descriptive nicknames that created a more accurate identity for them that their original names lacked. However, Pilate was already born with a name that encompassed her identity: Pilate, a homonym for “pilot” because she is a guiding figure, especially for Milkman. Keeping her name close to her in her earring, she is always in touch with her identity and lets it define her. Milkman, recognizing this and the impermanence of identity, comments how “names...had meaning. No wonder Pilate put hers in her ear. When you know your name, you should hang on to it, for unless it is noted down and remembered, it will die when you do” (329). Despite this, Pilate’s name and influence will live on after her death, symbolized by her earring being snatched up by a bird that flies away with it: although her body remains on the ground, her name remains and moves
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).
Toni Morrison in his literature "Song of Solomon" touches on various societal issues that are often likely to be sticky. Some of the contextual issues covered in the book include the intricacies of love in which he presents the multifaceted effects of Milkman's flight from Michigan. This flight by Milkman is motivated by his desire to escape to freedom. However, this has proximate effects on Hager, his fiancée who succumbs to heartbreak. The book explicitly uses an array of symbols. For instance, the real name of Milkman is Macon dead but because the mother suckled him long enough, the author predominantly refers to him as the Milkman (Morrison 113). The effects of harsh background remain even in Milkman's memory even in his old age. This reincarnation
In Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, names and identity play a very big role for the characters, for nearly every character’s name is related to who they are. For most of the novel the audience follows Macon “Milkman” Dead III through his coming of age and his quest to find out his true identity. Throughout the novel he pieces together his family history and ultimately ends up accepting who he is and appreciating his heritage. Through him, the audience sees what life is like for African-Americans during the time between World War II and the Civil Rights Movement. Although he is a protagonist of the novel, he is not the only one. His aunt, Pilate Dead, can also be considered a protagonist. In the story, she got her name when her father picked
Romeo and Juliet are not supposed to be together. Upon seeing Romeo, Juliet sends The Nurse to find out who he is. Nurse returns saying, “His name is Romeo, and a Montague, / The only son of your great enemy” (I v 36-37). They instantly become desperate to see each other all the time, ignoring the fact that their families are feuding. Juliet likes the proverbial forbidden fruit, saying, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet; So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called / Retain that dear perfection which he owes / Without that...
The novel “Song of Solomon” by Toni Morrison emphasizes in the 1977 when the black community were getting mistreated by the whites. However, the novel explains about an individual learning through many obstacles in life because he was able to grow on his own. This individual goes by Milkman, but his real name is Macon Dead the third. Milkman was the first African American born in Mercy Hospital. Milkman maiden name is Ruth, and his father name is Macon Dead JR. Macon was believe that he pretended to act white, and wanted to kill his own son before he was born. Luckily that Pilate an aunt of Milkman was there at that time to rescue when Macon attempted to murder his family. In addition, Milkman was a serious person, and started to mature at
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.
with four words in each, 6 x 4 =24. On the second word list use the
Though the examples and connections presented here may seem tenuous, they speak to much larger questions concerning the link between representation and identity. Hughes’ work is centered upon the limitations that assimilations into “whiteness” present for black culture, yet these limitations would appear to have origins within the Euro-centric and thus “white” literary canon of authors like Shakespeare. Beyond the similarities of assimilation that exist in the character of Othello and the middle-class blacks that Hughes discusses, there is, in my mind, a definite link between representations of “blackness” in literature and the racial insecurity that is seen by Hughes. I would argue that the former has in some ways influenced the latter. Why