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Materialistic Wealth In Toni Morrison's Song Of Solomon

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Economic privileges generally blind people to the unfavorable social conditions of their community, as wealth is commonly used as a method of physical escape. As a result, many of those belonging to this socio economic strata continue to live under the illusions of an idealistic identity, as they fear to uncover a past that may disrupt their supposed utopian lifestyle. The rare amount of people who defy and challenge the blindness evoked by economic privileges are usually awarded with a mental awakening in which they will uncover a social purpose beyond the pursuit of materialistic wealth. In the Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison explores the social transition of Milkman, a privileged individual, through the use of a spiritual awakening. Due to …show more content…

His social awakening also inspires a change in attitude towards the treatment of women. Initially, Milkman objectifies Hagar and treats her as an inferior, but when he encounters Sweet, he begins to reciprocate her affections and treat her with respect. Furthermore, Milkman’s change in motivation for his flight south illustrates the development of his maturity through his pursuit of his family’s history, proving that attaining wealth is no longer his sole purpose. During his time south, Milkman was maliciously pursued by Guitar. His attempted murderer of Milkman creates the illusion of a resurrection to which Milkman develops social awareness. 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 …show more content…

Despite Milkman’s initial pursuit of Hagar, he fails to become emotionally invested and eventually loses interest in her. Their separation unfortunately evoked the loss of Hagar’s sanity, as her love for Milkman manifests into an obsession and she becomes consumed with jealousy and desperation. As a result, Hagar strategizes a plan in which she attempted to murder Milkman for their separation. When confronting Milkman, Hagar realizes that she lacks the courage to actually inflict harm upon him, as she is still emotionally invested in their relationship. Upon realizing that Hagar lacks the audacity to actually murder him, Milkman becomes silently overwhelmed with pride to which he proceeds to “pat her cheeks and turn away from her wide, dark, pleading, hollow eyes” (Morrison 130). Through his condescending tone and actions towards Hagar, it becomes evident that Milkman lacks respect for women, as he views them as socially inferior. He objectifies Hagar and discards her immediately upon losing interest, which unfortunately forces Hagar to suffer the same fate as her biblical parallel, who was banished upon bearing a child to Abraham. Ironically, Milkman fails to realize that his neglective behavior was ultimately the motivating source for the negative change induced upon Hagar. Her inevitable downfall serves to highlight the extent of Milkman’s harm through the infliction of

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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’s perception of his mother is once again affected because of her viewpoint of her relationship with her father, ending all suspicions against

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Furthermore, Ruth’s endless, captivating love restricts Milkman and thwarts his personality’s development to a mature man. His search for his self cannot be satisfied at home since he has no space to become independent or is regarded as a separate

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In the book Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, the book is a very good representation of the racial lens. The racial lens is a lens that has to deal with with racial slurs or sequences the character in the book encounter. Milkman is Guitar's best friend, and due to the fact that Milkman was always wealthy from birth and he lived on the other side of town, Milkman does not understand how someone could be so radicalized as Guitar is. Throughout the book, we can see how Guitar was always passionate about his race since his childhood, and how what white people have done has really affected him life. When Guitar’s father died in a brutal accident at his father’s work place, a white man came to tell him and his family and offered Guitar candy for his father's death.

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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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Because Guitar lives like the average lower-class African American, he understands the importance of prioritizing spiritual aspects of life over the materialistic ones. Milkman on the other hand has lived a life of material and has been taught that the only important aspect of life is money and owning things. As a result, Guitar despises the mindset of Milkman, and wants to change it. However, his attitude towards it deteriorates their friendship and impacts their encounters in the

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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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Within society, materialism is often associated with success and prosperity. In the novel Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, there was a pattern of how even though the most successful characters were also the most materialistic, they were not always the happiest. Two characters that were at either end of the scale of materialism were Macon and Pilate. These very different lifestyles that Macon and Pilate lived, Macon being heavily materialistic and Pilate not at all, caused them to develop different attitudes that were influenced heavily by materialism. Through the analysis of the mystery of Pilate’s and Macon’s lifestyles, Morrison illustrates that materialism destroys people and prevents them from achieving freedom.

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In Song of Solomon, written by Toni Morrison, deep concern for not only the existence and development of the black community is shown, but also for human beings in general. Questions such as “Why and how are individuals isolated from society?” , “What voice is created in isolation?”, and even “How does an individual resolve conflict between personal ethics and social morality?” strictly apply to Song of Solomon. Milkman, the protagonist, embarks on an unwitting search for his roots and ties to the black community, all while feeling isolated from society.

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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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As a result Milkman achieve the ability of flight because he was forced to step out of his comfort zone and experience and see the world in a different and an unfamiliar way. The motif of flight representing one's life that is free of burdens, is clearly shown when Milkman and his best friend Guitar is confronted by a white peacock. Milkman ask why the peacock is unable to fly and Guitar says that the peacock has, “too much tail. All that jewelry weighs it down”, (179).

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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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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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In this scene Sethe reclaims the nourishment she was and human generosity she was denied as a slave and reclaims her identity as mother while preparing milk for the two young women she wishes to care for. The symbol of milk is prominent throughout Morrison 's novel. The milk 's symbolism allows insight into the overall themes Morrison is trying to project. Whether it be through its symbolism of motherhood, shame, or nourishment, milk throughout the narrative reveals the ways in which African Americans were stripped of their personal identities as well as their identity as

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