How important is it to be able live for yourself? In Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, the egotistical, self-involved Milkman Dead lives passively and without active response to what goes on around him. He lacks consideration for others and seems to live without a care about anything. However, one night’s event turns into a window that opens Milkman up into changing. Soon after, he begins to be active, responsive human with a passion. Morrison’s Song of Solomon illuminates, through a scene of conflict with Milkman, the importance of independence and individuality while expounding upon the themes of the necessity of identity.
When Milkman hits his father, he realizes the lack of responsibility he holds in his life, leading him to questions
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how much he truly knows about the world and himself. To set the scene, the Dead family sits at a table eating dinner, Macon and Ruth included.
The two are arguing; Macon is more agitated than latter. He aggressively tells her, “You by yourself ain’t nobody. You your daddy’s daughter!” only for Ruth to inform him that she “certainly [is her] daddy’s daughter,” with a grin (119). As Milkman watches, Macon punches her. Acting in quick response, Milkman grabs his father violently and warns him: “You touch her again, one more time, and I’ll kill you” (120). Before, Milkman would have allowed for the instance to pass by. However; the abuse Milkman had seen between his mother and father was, on that day, an act “he would not be able to stand” (120). Afterwards, Macon describes to him the context of the argument, and how Ruth mocks Macon about her father and the inappropriate relationship she had with the man. Milkman suddenly feels burdened with the knowledge, and the event causes him to reflect on the choices he has made in life. Before, Milkman was passive, self-involved, and not caring for the pains and struggles of other people. He refused to accept the responsibility of his life, his actions, and any consequences that would follow because of him. For example, in order …show more content…
to break up with Hagar, he sends her a letter instead of talking to her; inside, he gives her money instead of an actual gift. Not talking to her, not trying to understand her feelings, Milkman proves his unkind disposition. In juxtaposition, after the conflict and talk between his father and himself, Milkman has suddenly found himself fully involved with the lives of his parents. Purposefully acting out on his own, and against another person, his assault on his father is the first assertive action seen of Milkman in the novel. In contrast to his actions before, he wholly takes responsibility: “His action was his alone” (122). After reflecting on scene, Milkman realizes that he has been influenced by his father. Milkman briefly believes his father’s words and his view of Ruth, but then questions the legitimacy. Milkman realizes that the only knowledge he has is through the descriptions that other people tell him. “All he knew in the world about the world was what other people had told him,” and that he has no evidence that comes from himself (120). Furthermore, he acknowledges how many others have influenced him, and how he rarely acts independently: He himself did nothing. Except for the one time he had hit his father, he had never acted independently, and that act, his only one, had brought unwanted knowledge too, as well as some responsibility for that knowledge. When his father told him about Ruth, he joined him in despising her, but he felt put upon; felt as though some burden had been given to him and that he didn’t deserve it (120). When assaulting his father had been first instance of him taking responsibility, Milkman realizes the lack of control he has in his life. He has been influenced by the ideas of other people and does not know what to believe for himself. By taking responsibility for his action, Milkman shows growth by starting to do things for himself and figuring out what he wants to stand for; all are part of identity. The realization that Milkman had of his own lack of independence and passiveness follows into his want to be his own person and have his own identity. Before hitting Macon, Milkman had never purposefully acted out on his own accord; the dinner was the first time. After talking with Macon, he realizes that most of what he knows comes from other people, not his own experience. Could he believe what his father says about Ruth? Rarely has Milkman lived from his own knowledge. Milkman begins to want “to beat a path away from his parents’ past ... which was threatening to become his present as well” (180). Even his name, part of his identity, was given to him by someone else and was something he himself could not determine. Most importantly, Milkman starts wanting to be his own person and determine his own life with his own knowledge and wants: I just know that I want to live my own life ... I don’t want to owe anybody when I go. … Everybody wants something from me ... Something they think they can’t get anywhere else. Something they think I got. I don’t know what it is—I mean what it is they really want (222). Milkman wants his own identity. He wants to forge his identity himself, and determining self-identity requires independence from others: Macon, Ruth, Hagar, etc. Other people cannot tell a person who he. Identity can only come from himself. A person needs to be free from the expectations, influences, and obligations of others to start to discover who he is. For a person to find his identity, he needs to reflect on himself only and only by himself. Through changes shown in Milkman’s values after the conflict with his father, Morrison shows the natural want to for a person to find his own identity.
After listening to what Macon has to say about Ruth, Milkman realizes he knows nothing for himself. Much of what he learns and knows come from what other people tell him. Having an identity-crisis, Milkman becomes motivated to start living by his own accord and to discover life and who is is for himself. The theme transcends throughout Song of Solomon: identity should only be created by the individual. The feeling of self-discovery is universal, and anyone can feel the want at any time. Most people have asked themselves at least once, “who am I?” Conflict between a person and a society is the common impetus for change, such as how Milkman fought his father. Where some people may accept what other people view of them as their identity, many others will go on great odysseys in order to figure out their identity for
themselves.
ames are one of the first identifiers a person is given, and yet as infants they are given no choice in this identifier that will be with them for the rest of their lives. In Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon the use of the biblical names Hagar and Pilate serve as a means to show the importance of defining the path of one’s life for one's self, as supposed to letting one's name define it for them. Through juxtaposition and parallels, Morrison teaches a universal lesson of the importance of self definition.
As Milkman grows up, he recognizes the emotional distance between his father and himself. He goes his own way with a few skirmishes here and there and later he even manages to hit his own father. As Macon and Milkman grow apart and go their separate ways, Milkman doesn¹t even think twice about it and just continues on with his life as if nothing was different.
Milkman experiences many changes in behavior throughout the novel Song of Solomon. Until his early thirties most would consider him self centered, or even self-loathing. Until his maturity he is spoiled by his mother Ruth and sisters Lena and Corinthian because he is a male. He is considered wealthy for the neighborhood he grew up in and he doesn't socialize because of this.
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.
During the long period of time in which Milkman doubts human flight, he is essentially shunned from his community. However, by accepting human flight as both a natural and possible occurrence, Milkman achieves acceptance. In actuality, flight as a means of escape is conveyed as a selfish act, harming all those left behind. Furthermore, in reference to Robert Smith and Milkman, death, not flight, was what caused them to essentially escape. In Song of Solomon, flight comes across as an act of desperation, in which those involved would risk anything to escape their troubled lives. Only when you “surrendered [yourself] to the air” could you truly escape and find freedom (Morrison 337).
In Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, men discover themselves through flight. While the motif of flight is liberating for men, it has negative consequences for women. Commonly, the women of Song of Solomon are abandoned by men, both physically and emotionally. Many times they suffer as a result as an abandonment, but there are exceptions in which women can pick themselves up or are undisturbed. Morrison explores in Song of Solomon the abandonment of women by men.
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.
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.
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).
Milkman is born on the day that Mr. Smith kills himself trying to fly; Milkman as a child wanted to fly until he found out that people could not. When he found, "that only birds and airplanes could fly&emdash;he lost all interest in himself" (9). The novel Song of Solomon is about an African American man nicknamed Milkman. This novel, by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison was first published in 1977, shows a great deal of the African American culture, and the discrimination within their culture at the time Song of Solomon takes place. In part one, the setting is in a North Carolina town in the 30's and 40's.
When one is confronted with a problem, we find a solution easily, but when a society is confronted with a problem, the solution tends to prolong itself. One major issue that is often discussed in today’s society that has been here for as long as we’ve known it, is racism. Racism is also a very repetitive theme in Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon. Almost every character has experienced racism whether it be towards them or they are the ones giving the racism in this novel. Racism is a very controversial topic as many have different perspectives of it. In Toni’s novel, three characters that have very distinct perspectives on racism are Macon Dead, Guitar, and Dr. Foster. These characters play vital roles throughout the novel.
During a warm, summer day of my childhood, I ran across an adolescent bald eagle on the ground and out of its nest. I soon learned that the eagle fell out of the nest as it broke apart during the most recent storm. The baby bald eagle could not yet fly, so I knew it was doomed. Sadly, I was right. Unlike the baby bald eagle, in Toni Morrison’s book, Song of Solomon, her character, Milkman, reaches success through the metaphor of “flight”. Macon Dead Jr., known as Milkman, is a young, immature African American boy, who cannot “fly”. Ever since he was little, he has dreamed of reaching freedom through flight, but he soon finds out that he can not unless he lets go of everything that is holding him down. Towards the end of the book, Milkman’s
How often does one question the importance of geography, as it directly or indirectly influences their culture and upbringing? One could argue that it is a privilege granted to few to truly know the origin of ones race, identity, etc. In Toni Morrison’s seminal work titled, Song of Solomon, she weaves this question of identity on an individual and national level throughout the text. The desire to know oneself is the driving force for many of these characters especially the main protagonist, Milkman, as he begins his journey through the country. He travels from the north of Michigan to the South, ending in Shalimar, Florida. The question of whether these lines of North and South are arbitrary, or if they serve a greater purpose are answered within the text as Milkman travels and ultimately fulfills the Song of Solomon. Guitar and Pilate act as guides for Milkman on his quest for identity, and are two characters deeply concerned with geography. Arising out of both the blues tradition and a magical African folktale, Morrison's Song of Solomon illustrates the obligation to be an active witness to the past in order to connect the hearts of a people.