Colleen King
Ms. Romano
4 AP English, Per. 5
9 May 2014
Post #2
As I walked home from the beach after sitting there for an hour finishing Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, the only thoughts that could come to mind were, “Wow!” and “Incredible!” First of all, I could not have picked a better spot to sit and read the magnificent end to Morrison’s masterpiece, and secondly, I could not have chosen a more difficult book to chose a topic to do research on. In my first post I had an idea of researching the Civil Rights Movement and its effect on literature, but after reading the last three to four chapters of this novel, I just don’t know what to do. Morrison brings up so many deep and touching topics in the close of her novel. One of the topics that grabbed my attention and I even used in one of my AP exam essays is the idea of human’s innate communication with nature that they ignore to focus on material matters of money and selfish desires. Morrison has the main character Milkman go on a quest to find gold that his father and aunt left in a cave that they stayed in after Milkman’s grandfather was shot. As he progresses through this journey, Morrison strips him of his well-tailored suit, covers him in mud, and finally has him surrender his pride during his journeys through different woods. Milkman grew up surrounded by a nature manipulated by man to be convenient and pretty for their liking. His father paved pathways in the forests near the lake houses he owns to give his tenants a picturesque escape, but this forest is not the forest nature intended it to be. When Milkman must find his own way through a natural and unmanipulated forest, he finally sees the wool that has laid over his eyes for his entire life. Milkman realizes that he has never had contact with true nature because of the fantasy world his father created through his riches. This epiphany helps him to see the connection to nature he has missed out on as he sits to rest after a long night of hunting. He understands and sees the value in the in-born communication with nature that makes humans connected not only with each other, but with plants, animals, and elements. By stripping Milkman of his material possessions, Morrison emphasizes that this communication with nature is the key to the true happiness and peace that humans strive for. By the end of his journey, Milkman forgets about his pursuit for gold and ends up seeking information about his family’s past, leading him to a revelation that made my jaw drop as I closed the book.
After discovering that material matters don’t bring peace and happiness to the human race, he decides to continue looking for pieces to unlock the secrets about his family’s past kept from him for his whole life. In the end he finds out that his great grandfather, Solomon, flew away to his home in Africa and left behind every burden that bound him down. Flight is a motif that appears over and over again in this novel and takes a great hold upon Milkman. Since his childhood, Milkman feels depressed at the fact that he cannot fly and is bound to a family who doesn’t love him and to a life free from his own independence. While listening to children singing a song about a man named Solomon flying away, he discovers that his great grandfather flew away and that he and all of his other family members have this ability too. The burdens of life no longer bind him, an idea that sends Milkman into an ecstasy. Morrison ends the novel with a gorgeous quote that resolves her motif of flight by stating, “If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it” (337). This quote is just a beautiful culmination of what her novel is all about, surrendering one’s attachment to their problems and desires and conflicts to live in the peace nature intended. Morrison executed conveying this theme along with various other themes relating to love, friendship, and connection to the past in a way that made me eager to tell people about this book and tell them to read it. Her execution also made me curious to see who would dare to criticize this ground-breaking piece of genius. I am now thinking of writing a literary analysis essay, like the one we did for second quarter, to tear down anyone who dares to challenge the art Toni Morrison creates in Song of Solomon. I could go on and on about this book, but I won’t and will end with simply saying that this book has become my favorite piece of literature I have read so far and I want to defend/qualify its mastery through this project.
Colleen, I really love the idea of a focus on how in American culture, we are far too focused on materialism and disconnect ourselves from our natural surroundings. There is so much potential to connect Milkman’s journey towards self-discovery to the benefits of living in a less materialistic culture. I immediately connected your ideas to the documentary that we watched in Psychology the other day about happiness. In the documentary, the filmmakers interview people around the world and find that some of the happiest people in the world live in grass huts in third world countries. You can potentially analyze Milkman’s happiness and see how it relates to his connection to material things and later lack of connection to material things. Another topic that goes along with materialistic people’s disconnect from nature is today’s use of technology. I recently watched a video that was circulating Facebook which focused on people today needing to get their faces out of their smartphones and into the real world. It talked about how today, people often lack genuine connections with others due to the surge in social media. In your blog post, you mention “surrendering to the air.” I see so many possible connections, but one is the concept of letting oneself be present and enjoy the people around them without material/ technological distractions. I realize that the link to technology is a bit of a stretch, but I’m just trying to emphasize that this idea of materialism vs. surrendering to nature is so relevant to American culture today.
ReplyDeleteI think you could read literary criticism, but remember that "lit crit" does not mean tearing an author down. Don't walk away with that impression, please. You might gain some insight by reading scholarship about the novel, however, so it might be a good exercise. I also think that Natalie's idea might be interesting -- looking into the shedding of the material and how that affects humans given that this motif resonated throughout the novel.
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