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jw2869 's review for:
Song of Solomon
by Toni Morrison
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
This is definitely in my top two favorite Toni Morrison novels. We all know she's a master at her craft, but she had me in SUSPENSE in that last quarter of the book. There are so many layers, themes, and metaphors in this book that I'll be unpacking for weeks to come.
Flight is a central and recurring theme throughout the book. The book opens and ends with flight as a means of escape - not a geographical escape but a mental escape from the bondage of capitalism, accumulation, and domination. It is no coincidence that the man in the opening scene who jumps from Mercy hospital is a tax collector.
Connected to flight Pilate (pronounced pilot) is the guide of Milkman's journey and flight as he retraces her steps back to Virginia. Naming, tradition, mythology and memory of where you come from are vital parts of this book. Pilate is a really interesting character in that she creates herself. She is a self invented person as evidence by her lack of a belly button and being born to a dead mother. She is named after Pontius Pilate who presided over the trial of Jesus and ordered his crucifixion. Which I'm still unpacking.
Pilate is juxtaposed against her brother Macon Dead - his focus is to own, build, possess, and accumulate. His life and his marriage is joyless and loveless. Pilate takes an opposite path living jn near poverty but living a life of love and generosity in abundance. She represents a mothering that knows no bounds.
Following in Pilate's footsteps on a search for gold Milkman journeys through his family history - starting in the cave where his grandfather's body was left and meeting the midwife that brought his father and Pilate into the world and kept them safe after their father was killed. He then travels to his father's hometown and to where Sing and Jake his great grandparents were from. It is here that he learns about the original flying Africans and his lifelong obsession with flight comes full circle.
During this journey Milkman slowly loses his material trappings - his suitcase, his clothes, his watch, and his bond to Guitar that has been destroyed by greed. It is in this final loss that he finally takes flight which I took to mean finally releasing his bondage to greed and over accumulation.
As an aside I'm really interested in someone breaking down Morrison's portrayals of problematic mothers. Milkman getting his name from being nursed by his mother for far too long. The mother in Tar Baby who abuses her child. Sethe's killing of her child rather than having them grow up in slavery in Beloved. Eva burning her son Plum. Each is an instance of a love taken to its furthest reaches and turned violent.
Flight is a central and recurring theme throughout the book. The book opens and ends with flight as a means of escape - not a geographical escape but a mental escape from the bondage of capitalism, accumulation, and domination. It is no coincidence that the man in the opening scene who jumps from Mercy hospital is a tax collector.
Connected to flight Pilate (pronounced pilot) is the guide of Milkman's journey and flight as he retraces her steps back to Virginia. Naming, tradition, mythology and memory of where you come from are vital parts of this book. Pilate is a really interesting character in that she creates herself. She is a self invented person as evidence by her lack of a belly button and being born to a dead mother. She is named after Pontius Pilate who presided over the trial of Jesus and ordered his crucifixion. Which I'm still unpacking.
Pilate is juxtaposed against her brother Macon Dead - his focus is to own, build, possess, and accumulate. His life and his marriage is joyless and loveless. Pilate takes an opposite path living jn near poverty but living a life of love and generosity in abundance. She represents a mothering that knows no bounds.
Following in Pilate's footsteps on a search for gold Milkman journeys through his family history - starting in the cave where his grandfather's body was left and meeting the midwife that brought his father and Pilate into the world and kept them safe after their father was killed. He then travels to his father's hometown and to where Sing and Jake his great grandparents were from. It is here that he learns about the original flying Africans and his lifelong obsession with flight comes full circle.
During this journey Milkman slowly loses his material trappings - his suitcase, his clothes, his watch, and his bond to Guitar that has been destroyed by greed. It is in this final loss that he finally takes flight which I took to mean finally releasing his bondage to greed and over accumulation.
As an aside I'm really interested in someone breaking down Morrison's portrayals of problematic mothers. Milkman getting his name from being nursed by his mother for far too long. The mother in Tar Baby who abuses her child. Sethe's killing of her child rather than having them grow up in slavery in Beloved. Eva burning her son Plum. Each is an instance of a love taken to its furthest reaches and turned violent.