The novel that I have chosen to base my review on for this assignment has been Song of Solomon. This novel was written by the African American writer Toni Morrison and published during the year of 1977. Morrison who is a well known black writer has received many high statured awards for this novel, such as the Nobel Prize and the National Book Critics Award. The novel, Song of Solomon, does not have the same approach as the slave narratives that have been read throughout the course of The Survey African American Literature. Instead we are taken out of the slavery era with this novel and given the chance to overlook the life of the protagonist Macon “Milkman” Dead III as he struggles to identify himself in his modern day life. One thing that this novel does have in common with some of the slave narratives written in this course would be the motif of flying, which is expressed all throughout Morrison’s novel, and the search for ones identity.
Morrison, I believe is able to put the pages of this book together in a very unique way. This is because within each chapter the protagonist of this story would unravel a new part of his life that he did not know before. Also, within many African American stories one would notice that you could not truly know yourself if you did not know of your past, and that is a particular scenario that Morrison tries to portray through this novel. Morrison is able to portray this as she puts her main character (Milkman) through this quest to find out about himself, and although he may not have a place to start from he knows that in order to become free as a person bonded to secrets he must uncover the past of his family. This book is put together with a grand number of characters which make each page rich with excitement and interesting facts. The main characters of this book would be as followed: Milkman/ Macon Dead III, Ruth Foster (mother of Milkman), Macon Dead Jr. (aggressive father of Milkman), First Corinthians (sister of Milkman), Lena (sister of Milkman), Pilate (aunt of Milkman), Hagar (cousin of Milkman), and Guitar (friend of Milkman). These characters all hold an important role in the life of the protagonist Milkman especially his father and aunt who seem to have the most control over the soul of this confused man. Each character has a different personality as if they were based off of real people. However, the personalities that seem the most important are of the father, who is truly aggressive, and the aunt who is truthful in all her ways. Another important character would be Milkman’s friend Guitar who is somewhat misunderstood throughout the entire novel but, once he is understood you know as the reader Milkman needs to be careful around this man.
This book has many different styles of dialect which range between conversations between characters and long sentences which are narratives from the main character. This twisted dialect makes the book more interesting to read because the tone of the book is one that one could refer to as lively and ever changing as life is. This book does not have an unusual amount of punning within its pages but, it does have some references you will not understand until later on in the novel. The basic theme as described earlier for this novel would be to identify ones self. Throughout this whole book one can see the burden ones past can have over them, especially when one is put into certain trials because of his past. The motif that expressed all throughout this book would be one of flying. This is a very special motif for this novel because it holds together the whole life of Milkman’s past and even his future. One thing that surprised me the most about this book after reading it would be the ending of the book which can be taken in so many directions. I adore the way this book ended because it leaves you wondering and wanting to know more about this book however no more can be revealed. If I can ask Toni Morrison any Question about this book I believe I would ask her what inspired her to write it. Who did she base her character off of? Also, will she ever write another novel that bases itself off of this one? This book should be one that is put on the syllabus for the African American Literature course because it covers so many interesting facts about African Americans and literature together. I believe everyone should read this book whether or not entitled to.
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