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Research in african american literature
Research in african american literature
Thematic concerns in the novels of toni morrison
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The African American Dream in Song of Solomon
Like most Americans, African Americans have developed variations of the American Dream. Many African Americans find that their dream differs from the traditional American dream in that there is no immediate success. Sometimes the dream consists of equality via liberty or literacy, while at other times it is a simple desire to know self through historical connection.
In Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, Milkman was literate and had many options for further education, if so desired. Milkman was apathetic toward education and work. In fact, he was not sure what he wanted from life. Initially, he thought the best thing for his life was to leave his family and home. In order to do so, he needed money. His father, Macon gives him the task of searching for a bag of gold in his Virginian hometown. Macon fought Pilate for a particular bag of gold as children, and Macon believes the gold remains in the original location as it was when they were young. Milkman wishes to locate the gold as means to accomplishing his goal to achieve financial independence.
While on this quest, Milkman discovers his true dream, to discover "who he really is" and his family heritage. Milkman's version of the African-American dream is one of uncovering the past, a past that has been covered and lost through slavery and post-abolition renaming. Where his grandfather and father choose to leave the past behind, Milkman chooses to retrace their steps.
Through Macon, Milkman has been fed numerous variations of history. Pilate, his aunt, continues much of the same distortion. He is unsure of history and reality. In listening to his father's story, we read of Milkman's feelings, "Deep...
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...ng his dream. With no immediate success, as occurs in the traditional American dream, Milkman sought to work towards the goal with patience and determination. Once he acquired the dream or a part of that dream, he turned around and gave back to his people, family and friends, in an effort to help those around him. Milkman's story, describes the quest for the African American dream of equality, and in that, exercising his inalienable rights.
WORKS CITED
De Arman, Charles. "Milkman as the Archetypal Hero." Obsidian: Black Literature in Review 6.3 (1980): 56-59.
Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New York: The Penguin Group, 1977.
Peterson, Nancy J. Toni Morrison: Critical and Theoretical Approaches. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1997.
Rice, Herbert William. Toni Morrison and the American Tradition: A Rhetorical Reading. New York: P. Lang, 1996.
Near the end of the book Milkman seems to change his view of his father, with some help from the positive memories of the old men in the passage.
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.
Milkman?s journey into manhood begins when he is in his thirties. He has been thriving for financial independence since he began working for his father. He also wants to es...
Toni Morrison's novel “Song of Solomon" is an evident example of literary work that utilizes the plight of the African-American community to develop an in-depth and complex storyline and plot. Not only does Toni Morrison use specific historical figures as references for her own characters, she also makes use of biblical figures, and mythological Greek gods and goddesses. When evaluating Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon” you can relate each and every character to a specific historical figure or mythological being in history. But to focus on a specific character you would look towards one of the protagonists. Guitar and Milkman can serve as main individuals that can be symbolic of other political and civil rights activist involved in history.
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.
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
The character Pilate in Song of Solomon is portrayed in the role of a teacher or "guide". She tends to be a spiritual leader as well as a spiritual guide for Milkman and the rest of the society. It could be argued that she is the main cause of Milkman's liberation and better being. She represents the motherly love and gives the spiritual education that Milkman needs, in order to go through the monomyth process. She teaches Milkman the necessities of life not with severity but rather by means of being her own self. Her being connected to her heritage and traditions is also involved in changing Milkman into the hero. Pilate is not the typical teacher that a reader could expect to have in his or her classroom. Pilate is to a certain extent, very mother like and caring towards Milkman. She gives Milkman what he feels he can't get at his rich home, care and affection. When Milkman is alone, it is at Pilate's house that he finds comfort, not only from the people but also from the surroundings of the house. He feels comfortable being in a neighborhood of people that are of lower class than him. Pilate takes on the role of mother to Milkman by showing how a family is supposed to be, which is not divided like his house, but rather caring and loving towards one another, like the environment at Pilate's house. As Joseph Skerrett points out, Pilate does begin teaching Milkman, starting from their very first meeting. Her whole lesson with how the word "hi" sounds like the "dumbest" word and that if someone was to be greeted with a hi, they should "get up and knock you down" seems to get Milkman to notice her. Her role as a parental guide changes to that of one of the teacher and she tries to teach him what is right and wrong. She exemplifies to Milkman how life should be led. She shows him how goals in life should be aimed for and how they should be accomplished. For example, her whole lesson on how to make the perfect egg shows Milkman how even something as little as frying an egg has consequences to it.
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).
The American dream can be defined as the promise of living in America with opportunities for all, regardless of social class, and according to their ability and effort (Schnell, 2010). Proponents of the American dream believe that there is equal opportunity for all in the American society to achieve success. Success is not pegged on social status, race, or creed, but rather on an individual’s own efforts. The definition of the American dream has unique interpretations to different people. The most common meaning is that of a life of abundance and prosperity, characterized by economic rewards that enable one to live a middle class life of comfort. Here, success is measured by material possessions such as beautiful homes, cars, a high income, and the ability to spend on luxury items. America is considered a land of plenty, and as such, many who come to the United States in search of the American dream have this form of success in mind.
...ity of painful experiences endured by our American ancestors, shattering a student’s perception of the struggles he himself is spared. Through the author’s use of symbols, a particular writing style, and the presence of a mental attitude, he convinces readers of the immense struggles of the migrants, effectively educating all who read his message. All of these writing tools add more depth to the overall understanding of the events and attitudes occurring at the time. The Grapes of Wrath inherently defines the true meaning of the American Dream. This once was an evil concept in the 30s that created hope where there was none and naturally left a scar in America's history across the government and it's people. Instead, the American dream is a dream of unity, hope, perseverance, equality, and kindness among all humans that was realized only in the darkest of times.
This is shown in the tension between the narrator and his grandfather’s ideals, who while understanding that the dream is not for black people, still believed that the best way to go about life was to, "overcome 'em with yeses, undermine 'em with grins, agree 'em to death and destruction, let 'em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open" (16), or in other words to try and beat them at the American way of life. However, the narrator constantly struggles with what his grandfather meant when he told him this, and while attempting to follow his advice he inevitably finds himself being discriminated against. Further, once the narrator begins to work at Liberty Paints he recognizes what the American Dream is for African Americans, to be underground and unrecognized despite having borderline built the framework for the business. Once the narrator understands what is in store for him if he continues down this path, he lashes out against the symbolic representative of the African American Dream, Lucius Brockway. Following this confrontation is the personal rejection of the American Dream, he joins the Brotherhood. Joining the Brotherhood, as it is allegorical for communist groups of the time therefore, represents a direct personal rejection of American
There is no refuting that the railroad companies transformed business operations and encouraged industrial expansion. The raw materials required for construction of the transcontinental railroad directly resulted in the expansion of the steel, lumber and stone industries. (Gillon p.652) The railroad stimulated growth in manufacturing and agriculture providing an efficient manner to ship raw materials and products throughout the country. Which in turn, increased consumerism and introduced t...
Morrison shows readers a side of American History rarely seen. She shows the deepness of prejudice and how many different ways it has effected people. While she does this she also tells a story of soul searching, Milkman tries to find himself among many people who are confused and ate up by hate and prejudice. In the end, he is able to find who he is and where he stands on all of the issues that are going on around him. When he gets this understanding Milkman retrieves, and achieves his childhood dream of flying.
The American Dream is that dream of a nation in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with options for each according to capacity or accomplishments. It is a dream of social stability in which each man and each woman shall be able to achieve to the fullest distinction of which they are essentially competent, and be distinguished by others for what they are, despite of the incidental conditions of birth or stance. People consider America the land of opportunities, a new beginning to a new life in which they can strive and succeed. America is known as the land of the free where if you have the perseverance you can achieve what you want from life. However does the American Dream apply to even those of color equally? Does the American Dream favor those who aren't Caucasian but of different pigments and ethnicities? Throughout history, immigrants and people of color have been cut short from certain carriers or occupations due to their race or ethnicity. An example from history was when The Irish migrated to the United States during the Great Irish Famine in the 19th century and they were banned from finding jobs or careers. When the Americans saw the Indian citizens who became citizens based off marriage back in the day succeeding in their business careers they passed on a law that stopped the Indians from marrying Americans which made the Indians lose their land owning right and businesses. When the African American slaves were first brought onto US land, they had no other option yet to be a slave and work under the command of Americans while the Americans set out to fulfill their American dreams. Have things changed around however throughout history? In my opinion, it is more unrealistic than realistic today...
Mobley, Marilyn Sanders. “ Toni Morrison.” The Oxford Companion to African American Literature. Eds. William L. Andrews, Frances Smith, and Trudier Harris. New York: Oxford UP, 1997.508-510.