1. Song of Solomon includes numerous references or allusions to historical events, institutions, people, and documents — for example, the role of blacks in the military, the Freedmen’s Bureau, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the murder of Emmett Louis Till. Select one of these references or allusions and explore it further. […]
Read more Study Help Essay QuestionsStudy Help Full Glossary for Song of Solomon
332nd Fighter Group a highly decorated group of black World War II fighter pilots. The 332nd Fighter Group included the legendary 99th Fighter Squadron, better known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Calling themselves the “Lonely Eagles,” the Tuskegee Airmen became known as the “Black Birdmen” by their enemies because of their […]
Read more Study Help Full Glossary for Song of SolomonCritical Essays Plot and Setting in Song of Solomon
Plot Song of Solomon takes an unconventional approach to conventional elements such as plot and setting. Morrison is renowned for her powerful metaphors and her use of detail to establish a tone or mood. For example, in Chapter 1, to establish the fact that Southside residents tend to rely on […]
Read more Critical Essays Plot and Setting in Song of SolomonCritical Essays Song of Songs and Flying Africans
Song of Songs In addition to its overriding theme of music — blues, jazz, spirituals, and gospel songs — as an integral force in the creation and survival of African-American culture, Song of Solomon draws on a wide variety of myths, stories, and legends from a diverse range of cultures. […]
Read more Critical Essays Song of Songs and Flying AfricansCritical Essays Levels of Language and Meaning in Song of Solomon
Song of Solomon is a richly textured novel that functions on multiple levels. For example, the theme of flight, which pervades the novel, alludes to numerous flights: Mr. Smith’s flight; the mythical flight of Solomon/Sugarman; the literal flight of birds, pilots, and airplanes; the historical flight of black people from […]
Read more Critical Essays Levels of Language and Meaning in Song of SolomonToni Morrison Biography
Personal Background Chloe Anthony Wofford — Toni Morrison — was born on February 18, 1931, in Lorain, Ohio, a racially mixed Midwestern steel town of around 75,000 that — like the settings of most of her novels — was “neither ghetto nor plantation.” She was the second of four children […]
Read more Toni Morrison BiographyCharacter Analysis Ruth Foster Dead
Ruth’s description of herself as a “small” woman captures the essence of her character. “Stunned into silence” by her psychologically abusive husband, Ruth’s growth has been stunted, like that of her “half-grown” daughters and the dying maple tree in the side yard. A complicated woman who seems to “know a […]
Read more Character Analysis Ruth Foster DeadCharacter Analysis Macon Dead, Jr.
Macon is the epitome of the black man who has acquiesced to the white capitalist system. Estranged from his family, his community, and his African heritage, Macon is hated and feared by blacks, who detest his arrogance, and ignored and ostracized by whites, who use him primarily to keep black […]
Read more Character Analysis Macon Dead, Jr.Character Analysis Guitar Bains
As Milkman’s mentor, best friend, and confidant, Guitar, “the golden-eyed boy,” is Milkman’s counterpart and alter ego. To Milkman, he is the “wise and kind and fearless” boy who “not only could liberate him, but could take him to the woman [Pilate] who had as much to do with his […]
Read more Character Analysis Guitar BainsCharacter Analysis Pilate Dead
Pilate is the ancestor who, as the critic Stelamaris Coser notes, represents “the only sign of a vital black tradition surviving in the urban industrial environment.” Milkman’s “pilot” on his “flight” home, she defies virtually every stereotype of a black woman and exemplifies Morrison’s rejection of binary thinking. Just as […]
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