Song of Solomon (1977)
Five Stars out of Five
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison uses one of the most distinctive and beautiful
writing styles of any author from the 20th century as she explores the African-American and female experience in racially divided America. She tells
through the poetry of her language the story of African-Americans’ search for
their own identity and place in the world, a world that has robbed them of
their culture, their language, even their names. In her 1993 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Song of Solomon”, she has achieved a pinnacle of
story-telling that places this book according to some in the publishing industry in the Top Twenty-five list for best English
language books.
“Song of Solomon” tells the story of Macon Dead III (aka
Milkman) from his birth in 1930’s Michigan to his ambiguous ending/transformation
in 1960’s Virginia. Milkman is the descendant of a legendary slave named Solomon,
Milkman’s great-grandfather. Working forward in time, we are introduced to
Macon Dead I, Solomon’s 21st child and Milkman’s grandfather. Macon
Dead’s name came to him and his descendants via a clerical error following
their emancipation from slavery. Macon I is assassinated by a family of former
slave owners (ironically named the "Butlers"), but not before fathering Macon II and his sister, Pilate (named from
the Bible like all of Macon I descendants, except from the Macon’s). Macon II
and his wife Ruth are the parents of
Macon III, more generally known as Milkman.
Besides the wonderfully poetic language used by Morrison in “Song
of Solomon”, she tells a story steeped in biblical allusions. The Song of Songs
(or Song of Solomon or Canticles) occurs in the latter part of the Old
Testament (or Ketuvim in the Hebrew bible). Like Morrison’s book, the biblical
book uses poetic language to tell a story; a story that celebrates sexual love;
a love that could be compared to death in that it is relentless and jealous,
one that cannot be refused. In the biblical story, an unnamed woman,
self-described as black from the sun, is a powerful, guiding force whose
passion will not be denied. The parallels in Morrison’s story to Pilate’s
dominating presence and Hagar’s all-consuming and eventual self-destructive obsession
over Milkman are hard to ignore.
Another aspect of Morrison’s novel that helps place this
book in the top tier of fiction is her use of a narration style that is a
variation of the omniscient viewpoint. This allows Morrison to give the
internal dialog for the various characters within the book, thus helping to
elucidate their motivations and thoughts. Such clarity is essential to give the
reader, especially the White-reader such as myself some degree of insight to
the African-American perspective to life in 20th century America. I
also was intrigued by Morrison’s occasional use (in my opinion) of the magical
realism motif made famous by Gabriel Garcia Márquez. In Morrison’s case she
actually foreshadows it use with the opening attempt by the frustrated (confused/demented?)
insurance salesman, Robert Smith and his attempt to fly from a church steeple.
Much later in the book, we see a more successful use of flight by Solomon and
at the very end a more metaphorical use by Milkman as he makes his final
confrontation with former friend, now enemy Guitar.
The complexity of “Song of Solomon” is further enhanced by
Morrison’s use of allusion and symbolism via her naming of the various
characters. A good example is Circe, the former slave of the Butlers who helps
Macon II and Pilate escape the Butlers after their murder of Macon I. Consider
Circe’s use of magic in Greek mythology and her “association” with animals versus
Morrison’s Circe’s extreme age and her care-taking of the Butlers and later
after the last Butler death, of a pack of dogs (surely metaphors for Butlers).
Another example is the case of Macon II and his life-long struggle to live up
to his father’s successes through his own pursuit of money; it is an easy
interpretation to link his surname of “Dead” to his own spiritual death. But my
favorite example is Ruth. Ruth is a very clever a reference to the Ruth of the
bible (yet another book from the Ketuvim). The biblical Ruth was the model for
loving kindness; one who also accepted a lower social status by working in the
fields. Morrison’s Ruth not only accepted the “step-down” from being daughter of
the most respected man in town (the only Black doctor) to being the wife of a
rent collector (Macon II), she also personified her loving nature via her
too-close relationship to Macon III (at least in part demonstrated by nursing
him to age four or five, and of course leading to his nick name of Milkman). And
Ruth helps Morrison further define the color consciousness of the
African-American community as she is considered “high yellow” in color and in status,
and like the biblical Ruth makes the “your people shall be my people” transition,
in this case by joining the darker-skinned Macon Dead family and community.
The “Song of Solomon” is a terrifically complex novel. It is
a story about race, family, and women. The women in the story range from the
mystical Pilate, to the inhibited Reba, to the obsessive Hagar, and ultimately
to the disconsolate and self-sacrificing Ruth. Like the biblical books Song of
Solomon and Ruth, the reader will gain not only an appreciation of
African-American life, but also of the particular effects that life has on its
female members. This book can be read for the beauty of its language and
construction, for its biblical allusions, for its insight into the condition
and reaction of the African-American community, or even for the surface story
of Milkman’s life story and his transition from a self-centered permanent
adolescent to an actualized adult. For any or all of these reasons, “Song of
Solomon” is a book well worth reading by all adult Americans.
No comments:
Post a Comment