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The Byrd Family In Toni Morrison's Song Of Solomon

1076 Words5 Pages

In Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison uses the character traits and names of her characters to connect them to real human beings. Several of the characters from the book bear exact similarities to those of their counterparts. In the novel, Morrison displays the Byrd family as a racist family who Milkman is tangentially related to, the Butler family as an oppressive and murderous family that ultimately dies out, alone and listless, and Guitar as the exemplar of prominent black revolutionaries, namely Malcolm X. Through her usage of the Byrd family, the Butler family and the symbolism of Guitar’s character, Morrison blurs the line between what is real and what is so fantastic that it can only be discussed in a work of literature. Late in the novel, Milkman travels to Virginia, attempting to find his family. He meets with a woman named Susan Byrd who upon greeting him, is described having this reaction “She …show more content…

By articulating that oppression is deeply grounded through the usage of the Byrd family, demonstrating the incorrectness of these concepts by showing the vengeance wrought upon the Butler family, and displaying the lengths people will go to to break out of oppression, Morrison weaves a compelling arc of literature, grounded in fact. This model of fact-based fictional characters provides for a more compelling narrative and a demonstration about race. Morrison shows the reader about the racial struggles that Milkman and his contemporaries must face during the novel, however, she parallels this fictional story of race with an equally compelling real one, giving the reader a small part the story of race in the United States. This potent mirroring reinforces her points about these pivotal themes and characters for the duration of the

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Throughout Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, Milkman Dead’s name serves as a constant reminder of his unhealthy relationship with his mother, Ruth Dead, which in itself is a reflection of her deep-rooted issues with her own personal life that are out of Milkman’s control. The significance of Milkman’s name has multiple layers to it. For example, it is important to recall that his real name is Macon because he makes a significant effort to distance himself from Macon Jr. and prove himself to be different from him. Ruth’s breastfeeding him well past his infancy results in his being stuck with the nickname “Milkman” before he is even old enough to understand the situation.

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Milkman, who believes in justice, does not think these violent actions are vindicated and attempts to convince Guitar that his actions are unacceptable further on in their conversation. “You can’t stop them from killing us, from trying to get rid of us…I help keep the numbers the same… But when a Negro child, Negro woman, or Negro man is killed by whites and nothing is done about it by their law and their courts, this society selects a similar victim at random.” Here Guitar is bitter at the unfair treatment and defends the society’s actions by accusing whites of initiating all the violence and for failing to give equality. The death of his father in a sawmill accident painted all whites in a negative light and he desperately wants change.

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Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon is a novel that is set in the 20th century, Michigan which follows the life of Macon Dead III, who gets the nickname milkman. His sisters are Magdalene, who is called Lena, and First Corinthians. His parents are Ruth and Macon Dead Jr. Unlike most African American families during this time period, the Dead family were financially stable and could afford things that were deemed luxurious. Even though they had money, they still were unhappy with their lives. This shows that you can be living ,but you can also be dead.

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In the Toni Morrison’s critically-claimed novel, Song of Solomon, the protagonist, Milkman, goes on a journey to uncover his “people.” Macon, Milkman, Dead III has no identity, ambition, or passion for he is lost and has no idea who he is or what he wants. As Milkman discovers his family’s mysterious and largely unknown past, Milkman discovers something much more: himself. Only through his investigation into his father’s family does Milkman finally find his lost identity.

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The most obvious example of a biblical allusion is present in the title, Song of Solomon. In the bible, Solomon is a wealthy and wise king of Israel, and also the son of David (“Solomon”). The book of Solomon celebrates the sexual and loving nature of a relationship, specifically between King Solomon and his alluring black wife, a Shulamite woman (“Song of Songs”). Morrison’s novel also discusses love and relationships between some characters, such as Milkman and his girlfriend Hagar and his parents, which thus demonstrates how Morrison uses the bible to address common themes of life. Morrison presents biblical allusions through the names of her characters.

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In Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, an African American man named Macon Dead III, also known as Milkman, struggles to find the truth behind his name and background. Milkman and his broken family live on the Southside of Michigan. His mother, Ruth Foster, suffers from the lack of intimacy with her husband and uses her son as a coping mechanism. His father, Macon Dead Jr., is a materialistic man who does not want to endure the same fate as his father, Macon Dead Sr.(who had been murdered for his land, Lincoln’s Heaven.) Neither of the parents give his two sisters, Magdalena and First Corinthians, attention, leading them to envy Milkman for being the center of their world.

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Toni Morrison’s novel Song of Solomon tells the story of Macon “Milkman” Dead, a character completely alienated from his community, his family and his heritage. The readers follow his journey, during which he attempts to find his “inheritance” of gold that his father, Macon Dead, believes was hidden by Pilate Dead. Instead, he travels to the fictional town of Shalimar where his family line began in America in order to fully understand the cultural heritage that has been left for him - in the process experiencing an understanding of the word home. Home is often represented by the motif of cherries, which different people in Milkman’s immediate family - eventually including Milkman encounter throughout the book. Even though these events are

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Certain aspects of life can be explained in full through a single phrase. A proverb. In this case: “like father, like son.” In the novel Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison, Macon Dead III, informally known as Milkman, develops relationships with many other character in his town in Michigan. The most important of which is his relationship with Hagar, who loves Milkman.

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Hagar, Pilate, Macon Jr., and Guitar all vie for Milkman’s commitment pulling in him to achieve their goals for him. To Milkman, his life seems to lack an identity in which to base his life’s direction and purpose, “…trying to make up his mind whether to go forward or to turn back. The decision he made would be extremely important, but the way in which he made the decision would be careless, haphazard, and uninformed.” (Morrison, 69-70). Unwilling to commit himself to any one goal, Milkman rejects these options, choosing instead to continue his aimless drifting, cutting himself off from the people who care for him and the African-American community.

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Milkman’s acknowledgment of racism and change in attitude towards women ultimately highlights his maturity and the development of an unmaterialistic identity through his metaphorical

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Throughout literature, most novels incorporate an adventure and an exploration theme about the hero journeying to find their path. In the novel Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison, it begins depicting Milkman as a feeble dependent character that relies on his friends and family for all of his needs. However, as the novel progresses the view of Milkman develops into an independent figure through a journey. Milkman’s personality and mindset shift as the purpose of the journey diverts away from gold and greed. He comes to realize what’s important in the world and begins exploring what really matters; his race, family’s homes, and identity in the world.

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The chief of police I am slaving for wants me to write in this journal. I’m not a sissy, but there’s nothing wrong with that either. I had no choice in the matter because I was her last option as a field agent. Jerry was on family leave, Michael was investigating a child abduction case and here I was, alone with my boss in our lonely, yet homey, police station.

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Full Circle Have you ever feared that something would come back to haunt you? Have you ever done something you know to be wrong and fear the consequences of your actions? In the novel Dear Martin by Nic Stone, we see this concept come to life. Through the lens of Justyce, an African American high school student who lives life in a microaggressively racist world, we see as his actions come back to revisit him as well as the way that others come back to haunt themselves. Through his experiences, Justyce discovers the value and peace that comes with letting things marinate on its own, instead of living life seeking vengeance against those who have wronged him.

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She was the sign of misfortune in the entire novel: deprived of sexual interaction with her husband for twenty years, delivering Milkman as a consequence of a shock from a frightening accident, and withstanding the physical violence of her husband even in front of their children. She was never respected or seriously loved by any male characters in the novel—Milkman was ashamed and careless of her, Macon her Husband hated her, and even her father was somewhat embarrassed by their intimacy which Ruth intended. Ironically, she was the daughter of the great Doctor who has a street named after him and the wife of Macon Dead, who is the richest person in town. This contrast emphasizes the tragedy of the character that despite her superior or seemingly advantageous status quo, she still led a miserable life. Morrison quoted that she started the book as an attempt to shatter some of the common stereotypes the 1960s has brought to African American community, which, as she reckons, has left out an enormous portion of the racial character for over-emphasizing the beauty and strength and thereby

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Zavala 1 To seek for Money,Power,and Freedom are the predominant result of racial segregation upon an individual's conscious. Many African Americans that lived during the period of slavery were traumatized by the idea that they lived under the control of white people. Many individuals fought for freedom but many ran away from problems. As shown in the novel "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison antagonist Macon Dead being a wealthy business man tends to fight for his own riches rather than his race. But to Guitar Bains being exposed to such violence during his childhood he was destined to take a “fight" to gain civil rights for African Americans.

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