Nature And Society In Toni Morrison's Song Of Solomon

In her 1977 novel Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison thematically contrasts nature and society to develop the message that society burdens people while nature frees them.

The story is primarily set in an unnamed city in Michigan that houses a sizable African American community and is divided by racial conflict. This urban setting is symbolically important because it is both isolated from nature. Aside from the fact that urban development is literally the opposite of natural wilderness, the city is also unnatural because it is dominated by white people and their culture, both of which Guitar calls “unnatural.” This racial inequality is established early in the book; the city’s legal system fails to punish white crimes against black people,

and its newspapers do not cover them, either. When Reba, a black woman, wins a newsworthy contest, the media refuse to put her picture in the paper. Instead, “they put the picture of the [white] man who won second prize.” Because the city is controlled by “unnatural” white people, it, too, seems unnatural. Morrison then associates its unnaturalness with the plight of its black residents to create the sense that characters are burdened by their subconscious acceptance of white cultural values. One such character is Hagar, Milkman’s cousin and overly attached former lover. After he rejects her, she erroneously comes to believe that the reason for it was that she was not beautiful enough. She thinks that Milkman prefers “silky…penny-colored hair”(315). Such is the hair of white women, or at least women who look whiter than she does. Hagar’s hair is a symbol of her throughout the book, and her rejection of her natural hair in favor of whiter-looking hair symbolizes her rejection of natural beauty in favor of unnatural white beauty standards, and it is this rejection that leads to her eventual depression and death.

Hagar suffers because she defines herself in terms of white women, failing to see that she is “really rather pretty”(305). Another character who suffers as a direct result of white societal values is Milkman’s father, Macon. He willingly embraces the materialism of white culture to achieve financial success. Guitar notes that “he behaves [and] thinks like a white man.” He endlessly pursues material wealth and social class, hoping that his elevated social status will compensate for his race and allow him to rise above other African Americans. Instead, it only alienates him from other blacks, who dislike him for his ruthlessness and arrogance. Macon Dead is actually damaged from trying to follow the ideals of a white society because his pursuit of wealth has left him spiritually dead, without love or friendship in his life. For example, when Mrs. Bains begins to ask him for leniency on her rent because she needs money to raise the children, Macon recalls “not the woman, but the circumstances”(21) of her rent. This event symbolizes how Macon generally sees others not as people, but only as opportunities to make money. He refuses her pleas, which indirectly characterizes him as cruel, furthering the notion that he is

emotionally dead. Additionally, he needs validation that he is “indeed a successful man,” so he drives through town for no other purpose than to flaunt his financial success. This implies that he is insecure about his belief that material wealth is all a man needs and subconsciously knows that he is emotionally unsatisfied. Macon Dead’s pursuit of white ideals makes him an “unnatural” black man who is ultimately unhappy. Both Hagar and Macon reject what is natural to them. Through the setting and these two characters, Morrison depicts people who reject nature and are consequently burdened by societal norms.
Macon’s pursuit of higher social class is reflected in his treatment of his family. The members of Macon’s family are trapped both by his oppressive behavior and by