Song of Solomon essays

Song of Solomon essays Toni Morrisons Song of Solomon relates the story of Milkman Dead and his obsession with flying, yet the book is also full of motifs and themes related to love which at times reinforces and supports the story while dealing with death and loss. Morrison also uses the themes of flight and love in order to engage the reader and bring about feelings of freedom. In addition, Morrison uses memory as a tool in order to relate the idea that certain sensory perceptions like smell and taste can often bring the reader closer to understanding a character and their personal feelings. Thus, by using these recurring themes, Morrison is attempting to tell us that it is better to try and deal with our problems than to escape from them. Also, Morrisons storytelling technique allows the reader to pick up on certain cues that inform Solomons desire to escape from reality and his responsibilities; thus, flying is a metaphor for this need to escape while love acts as the binding ingredient between the main characters. The title The Song of Solomon, obviously borrowed from the Old Testament, is Morrisons way of relating tales of romance and maturity via the retelling of the African-American experience in the United States. The novel opens with Robert Smith, an agent of the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, who decides to take off from Mercy and fly away on my own wings (9), but Pilot fails to save him and sings a song at his deathO Sugarman done fly/O Sugarman done gone (11). The very next day, Milkman is born at Mercy Hospital and as if he had been touched by Smiths blue silk wings, he too wishes to fly and when the little boy discovered, at four, the same thing Mr. Smith learned earlier, that only birds and airplanes could fly, he lost all interest in Many years later when Milkman reaches adulthood, he and his friend Guitar see a ...