3 sources cited length: 990 words 2.8 double spaced pages rating: purple price: $17.95 the importance of flight in song of solomon flight is a major theme in toni morrison's song of solomon. Flight echoes throughout the story as a reward, as a hoped for skill, as an escape, and as proof of intrinsic worth however, by the end this is not so clear a proposition lubiano 96. Song of solomon ends with ‘flight’ but in such a way that the act allows for multiple interpretations: suicide real flight and then a wheeling attack on his brother or real flight and then some kind of encounter with the possibly killing arms of his brother. That guitar places his rifle on the ground does not make him any less deadly his smile and the dropping of the gun both precede the language of killing arms and his my man my main man is an echo of the same irony that allowed guitar to call milkman his friend even after his prior attempt at killing him middleton 298. And guitar's arms are killing, not just because they want to answer the challenge posed by milkman's move toward him, but because they are the arms that have killed, that killed white peopl.

The postmodernist rag: political identity and the vernacular in song of solomon, in toni morrison's song of solomon, in new essays on song of solomon, ed. Valerie smith, cambridge university press 1995, 93 116, 1 113:

study questions

compare and contrast pilate and ruth. How does each of them treat milkman? how does belonging to different economic classes affect their relationship with each other? on the surface, no two women in song of solomon seem more different from each other than pilate and ruth. On the other hand, ruth is a wealthy, refined, and entirely dependent on her husband. Furthermore, unlike pilate, ruth is entirely powerless and unable to change her own life or how others treat her.

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These two seemingly different women are bound together by their shared love for milkman. Their concern for milkman is more important than any boundaries caused by their different social and economic classes. Although ruth does not befriend any women on the southside and pilate never goes to not doctor street, the two women are at ease and open with each other. Through their deep bond, morrison shows us that a shared love is more important in bringing people together than any superficial markers of status. How does searching for gold alter their personalities? although both men seek money, they approach their quests differently. However, milkman rsquo s quest for financial riches becomes a journey to uncover his family history. Sees gold nuggets in hunter rsquo s cave after murdering an old white man, his humanity begins to disappear.

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He neither regrets killing the white man nor pays attention to his father rsquo s ghost, who is trying to speak to him. He severs the relationship with his sister, pilate, and damages the relationship with his immediate family, revealing that he does not own his gold. For milkman, gold is a tool, an instrument that can win him independence from his parents.

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The quest for gold enriches milkman because it puts him on the path of personal discovery. What does the novel reveal about morrison rsquo s attitude toward race problems? song of solomon rsquo s themes are universal, but almost all of its characters are black. We rarely meet any white characters, but we know that an oppressive white world exists just outside the black world.

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The few times that white characters do enter the novel, the consequences are immediate and devastating. White people in song of solomon are a source of harm for black people: macon dead i is murdered by a wealthy white family, and guitar rsquo s father dies in a factory accident because of his white boss rsquo s negligence. Also, emmett till is hung in mississippi by a white lynch mob, and four little girls are killed in a birmingham church bombing. Despite the whites rsquo catastrophic presence, morrison warns that hatred and revenge are not useful responses to racism. Guitar rsquo s lust for vengeance eventually causes him to attempt to murder milkman, a black man just like him. While morrison understands guitar rsquo s desire for justice in an oppressive white society, she shows that his anger is detrimental to his cause.

By focusing on those who hate him rather than on himself, guitar achieves nothing. Milkman, on the other hand, realizes his individual potential and liberates himself from his personal limitations. How do various genres such as magical realism, adventure story, and heroic epic, typify the plot of the novel? is one genre term more appropriate than others? if so, why? 2. How does poorness influence participation in the seven days? though the group is motivated by racism rather than economic injustice, why are all its members poor? 3. How is the relationship between love for an individual and love for an ideology explored in the novel? what are the similarities and differences between hagar rsquo s and guitar rsquo s expressions of love? 4.

How do physical abnormalities represent the personality traits of the novel rsquo s characters? does pilate rsquo s lack of a navel have the same effect on her as milkman rsquo s undersized leg has on him? 5. What is the ideological agenda embedded in the novel? is there a moral lesson to be learned from song of solomon. All five incorporate at least one of the themes in song of solomon and are broad enough so that it will be easy to find textual support, yet narrow enough to provide a focused clear thesis statement. These thesis statements offer a short summary of song of solomon by toni morrison in terms of different elements that could be important in an essay. You are, of course, free to add your own analysis and understanding of the plot or themes to them for your essay. In any character analysis of central characters in song of solomon , it becomes clear that for most, names are a reflection of their personality, and help them transform.

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Circe, guitar, pilate and even first corinthians have names that reflect their function in the text. Compare and contrast the meanings of the names in the novel and the personalities of the characters, from a non biblical perspective. Not only is racial tension thick due to the setting of song of solomon by toni morrison, but it also plays a large part in moving the plot along. Milkman’s grandfather solomon flew away from his life because of slavery, and guitar’s grandfather died because of his white employers. While it seems as if everyone in the novel is trying to flee the grip of their families past as slaves, in reality, they are only further enslaving themselves. For example, macon dead tells milkman that if he wants to be free, he must have money, and lots of it, so that he can own people, which is a direct reversal of his own past, yet it traps macon in a position where he is enslaved to his job. Describe the links to slavery that milkman and guitar’s families possess, and the ways in which both men try, and fail, to escape that captivity.

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thesis statement / essay topic 3: song of solomon and the symbol of flight toni morrison’s song of solomon begins with the flight of robert smith and ends with the flight of milkman dead. From smith to the flight of solomon, to the figurative flight of milkman from michigan, it seems as if flying as a means to escape occurs very often. Pick two or three characters and compare and contrast the ways that they attempt to fly, and what their attempts mean for them. Also, compare the other characters’ flights to that of pilate, who as milkman states, can fly without ever leaving the ground. thesis statement / essay topic 4: magic and its effects in song of solomon throughout morrison’s novel song of solomon. It’s magic that allows solomon to fly away from his troubles, and perhaps it is magic that gives pilate her guiding presence. There is magic in the moment that guitar finds milkman while they are hunting in the woods, and there is also magic that brings the man into the cave with macon and pilate.

When milkman finds circe’s house and discovers it’s ethereal occupant, the reader can only assume that’s magic as well. Describe the different scenes of magic in this novel, and explain how they help to move along the plot, and what specifically they mean to the story. thesis statement / essay topic 1: the meaning of biblical references in song of solomon the title of toni morrison’s song of solomon is a reference to a biblical book of the same name.

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With the inclusion of various biblical names, including magdalene, ruth and even pilate, song of solomon contains a lot of biblical allusions. Pick one or two characters and describe in detail the way in which they either embody or starkly contrast with their biblical counterparts. For example, is it a coincidence that the strongest character in the book is named after pontius pilate? what is the purpose of naming the characters after biblical characters? what does it add to the background of the story? there are other paperstarter entries for more novels by toni morrison, including beloved as well as the bluest eye and the novel sula. this list of important quotations from song of solomon by toni morrison will help you work with the essay topics and thesis statements above by allowing you to support your claims. All of the important quotes from morrison's song of solomon listed here correspond, at least in some way, to the paper topics above and by themselves can give you great ideas for an essay by offering quotes and explanations about other themes, symbols, imagery, and motifs than those already mentioned and explained.

Aside from the thesis statements for song of solomon above, these quotes alone can act as essay questions or study questions as they are all relevant to the text in an important way. Look at the bottom of the page to identify which edition of the text they are referring to. if you surrender to the air, you can ride it. 337 solomon done fly, solomon done gone, solomon cut across the sky, solomon gone home. 303 macon dead never knew how it came about how his only son acquired the nickname that stuck in spite of his own refusal to use it or acknowledge it.