Q1. Throughout the whole novel Toni Morrison uses irony to illustrate the negative effects of materialism
A1. It is ironic that the greed of Guitar exceeds the greed of Milkman. It relates to the theme of understanding oneself. It helps one realize who they are and what people really mean to them.
Q2. “Float those dollars down here, nigger, then blow yourself up” (Morrison 25).
A2. Milkman tries to be as different as possible from Macon but his desire for money and wealth brings Milkman to be more similar to Macon. Ths relates to the theme of finding yourself. If one tries too hard to be something they’re now, the outcome will most likely be negative.
Q3. Macon only uses his loving tone towards Milkman to fulfill his greed of wealth (Morrison
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172). A3.
This is significant to the theme of love. Love is something that should not be taken for granted. Using love to have your son fulfill one’s need for wealth is selfish and a misuse of the emotion. Milkman is deprived of love and seeks love from his father.
Q4. “Never mind that he probably didn’t deserve their honor—they knew what kind of man he was: arrogant, color struck, snobbish. They didn’t care about that (Morrison 329).
A4. This is significant because it shows that even though someone can be rude and arrogant, if they have money they will be respected. It shows the materialism and how it can easily corrupt a person or town.
Q5. By the end of the novel even Macon regrets his materialistic ways.
A5. Macon regretting materialism is significant because he is the most materialistic of all, trying to find a treasure they may or may not exist.
Examples of Imagery
Q1. “The sight of Mr. Smith and his wide blue wings transfixed themselves for a few seconds, as did the women’s singing and the roses strewn about” (Morrison 6).
A1. The roses that flew about right before Mr. Smith provided a distraction and help ease the tension within the air of the dangerous situation at
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hand. Q2. “Mr. Smith had lost his balance for a second, and was trying to gallantly hold on to a triangle of wood that jutted from the cupola. Immediately the singing women began again, ‘O Sugarman done fly/ O Sugarman done gone…” (Morrison 9). A2.
Flight is a major part in the Song of Solomon. Flight throughout the book is something that is victorious for one, but it brings mixed emotions. It takes fathers away from children and leaves devastation within families.
Q3. “‘ You all want a soft- boiled egg?’ she asked. The boys looked at each other. She didn’t change rhythm on them. They didn’t want an egg, but they did want to be with her, to go inside the wine house of this lady who had one earring, no navel and looked like a tall black tree”’ (Morrison 39).
A3. The egg shows up multiple times thought the novel. It shows the different wants people can view the world of humanity. Pilate loves the inside of the egg but Guitar is fascinated but the shell. Everyone sees things differently.
Q4. “But the bird had set them up. Instead if continuing the argument about how they would cop, they began to fantasize about what the cold could buy when it became legal tender” (Morrison 179).
A4. The peacock is a beautiful animal. It represents wealth and how greed can easily take over people. Guitar and Milkman talk about what they’re going to do with the money because they even devise a plan of how to obtain
it. Q5. “Daddy thinks the stuff is still in the cave. ‘Could be,” Guitar sipped his tea. ‘Anyway, it’s worth checking out. At least we’ll know once and for all. ‘I couldn’t agree more.’ ‘So I’m going after it”’ (Morrison 221). A5. The amount of dead bodies left in the Montour Cave is unknown. The cave signifies the unknown and mystery in the world. The reader does not know what happened to the man Macon stabbed. The cave is a mystery. Symbolism The Peacock- the peacock symbolizes wealth and how greed can easily take over a person. It first appears when Milkman and Guitar are talking about what they would do with the gold they are going to steal. The “peacock” changes when people get close to wealth The Ocean- the ocean is a representation of the desire to wander. The reader is supposed to interpret the ocean as a symbol to Milkman’s quest to find out his history. The Watermark- The watermark is on the dining room table constantly reminding Ruth of her father’s death. The watermark symbolizes darkness and death
Jennifer Price informs the readers about an economy in which a simple bird helped bloom it. For example the inclusion of many hotels and restaurants that utilized the bird as an eye opener. As she said “ a flamingo stands out in a desert even more strikingly than on a lawn.” The bird was used for numerous things including the affluence of a population that had just gotten out of the Great Depression. Jennifer Price also includes the birds magnificent color and how it also helped the economy.
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.
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.
Guitar Bains, Milkman's best friend since childhood, serves as Milkman's only outlet to life outside his secluded and reserved family. Guitar introduces Milkman to Pilate, Reba, and Hagar, as well as to normal townspeople such as those that meet in the barber shop, and the weekend party-goers Milkman and Guitar fraternize with regularly. However, despite their close friendship, the opportunity to gain a large amount of gold severs all their friendly ties. Guitar, suspecting Milkman took all the gold for himself, allows his greed and anger to dictate his actions and sets out on a manhunt, ready to take Milkman down wherever and whenever he could in order to retrieve the hoarded riches. Guitar's first few sniper attempts to execute Milkman did fail; however, the ending of the novel leaves the reader with the imminent death of either Milkman or Guitar. Ironic that t...
Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon tells the life story of Milkman and his family. The novel is well written and complex, while talking about several complex issues such as race, gender, and class. Although the novel makes reference to the several issues, the novel primarily focuses on what people’s desires are and their identities. Specifically through the difference between Macon Jr. and Pilate, Morrison illustrates that our most authentic desires come not from material items, but from our wish to connect with others.
The tale of the flying African represents a common dream, a common disappointment, and a group identity. As the object of Milkman's quest, it suggests a multi-leveled equivalence between individual identity and community. Simply as a folktale, it is an artifact of Afro-American history; its content links Afro-American to pan-African history; it is localized to represent Milkman's family history. His discovery of the tale thus represents Milkman's discovery of his membership in ever more inclusive communities: his family, Afro-Americans, all blacks. When Milkman realizes he can "fly" as a result of discovering his flying ancestor, his quest itself parallels Solomon's own flight back to Africa; it, too, represents a return to the origins of the community.
“It was a large, beautiful room, rich and picturesque in the soft, dim light which the maid had turned low. She went and stood at an open window and looked out upon the deep tangle of the garden below. All the mystery and witchery of the night seemed to have gathered there amid the perfumes and the dusky and tortuous outlines of flowers and foliage. She was seeking herself and finding herself in just such sweet half-darkness which met her moods. But the voices were not soothing that came to her from the darkness and the sky above and the stars. They jeered and sounded mourning notes without promise, devoid even of hope. She turned back into the room and began to walk to and fro, down its whole length, without stopping, without resting. She carried in her hands a thin handkerchief, which she tore into ribbons, rolled into a ball, and flung from her. Once she stopped, and taking off her wedding ring, flung it upon the carpet. When she saw it lying there she stamped her heel upon it, striving to crush it. But her small boot heel did not make an indenture, not a mark upon the glittering circlet.
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...
The novel begins with the account of Robert Smith, an insurance agent who had promised to “take off…and fly away on [his] own wings” (Morrison 3). Standing on the roof of Mercy Hospital wearing “blue silk wings,” Smith proclaims to a growing crowd that he will fly (Morrison 5). Unfortunately, he is ultimately unable to take flight and falls to his death among the crowd. This is the first image of attempted flight in the novel and the first glimpse of flight being viewed as both possible and natural. Those who had gathered to view Smith’s flight did not “cry out to [him]” or attempt to prevent his leap, but instead encouraged him, implying that t...
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 tile of the poem “Bird” is simple and leads the reader smoothly into the body of the poem, which is contained in a single stanza of twenty lines. Laux immediately begins to describe a red-breasted bird trying to break into her home. She writes, “She tests a low branch, violet blossoms/swaying beside her” and it is interesting to note that Laux refers to the bird as being female (Laux 212). This is the first clue that the bird is a symbol for someone, or a group of people (women). The use of a bird in poetry often signifies freedom, and Laux’s use of the female bird implies female freedom and independence. She follows with an interesting image of the bird’s “beak and breast/held back, claws raking at the pan” and this conjures a mental picture of a bird who is flying not head first into a window, but almost holding herself back even as she flies forward (Laux 212). This makes the bird seem stubborn, and follows with the theme of the independent female.
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
Now that Morrison has explained the background that Milkman comes from the reader can now understand why Milkman has such personality flaws. Milkman is presented to the reader as someone who has much to learn about life and his personality can now be developed throughout the story. Because of his family Milkman grows into a materialistic young m...
A father can play many roles throughout a child’s life: a caregiver, friend, supporter, coach, protector, provider, companion, and so much more. In many situations, a father takes part in a very active position when it comes to being a positive role model who contributes to the overall well-being of the child. Such is the case for the father in the poem “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden. In this poem, readers are shown the discreet ways in which a father can love his child. On the other hand, there are also many unfortunate situations where the fathers of children are absent, or fail to treat the children with the love and respect that they undoubtedly deserve. In the contrasting poem “Like Riding a Bicycle” by George Bilgere, readers are shown how a son who was mistreated by his drunken father is affected by their past relationship many years later. Although both of these poems have fairly similar themes and literary techniques, they each focus on contradicting situations based on the various roles a father can play in a child’s life.
Part one introduces readers to not only Milkman, but also to his family and friends. His father holds power in the African American community because he has his own business and is ambitious. Milkman's mother is a center figure in the community simply because her father was the doctor. Milkman has a mysterious unmarried Aunt, with a single daughter and granddaughter. He also has a friend, Guitar who is a member of a group of seven African American men dedicated to keeping the 'ratio' between blacks and whites the same. Throughout the novel, Milkman gradually learns about his families past as well as forgotten pieces of his own childhood.