Song of Solomon quotes and analysis(TM Blog #3)

1."They kidded him,abused him,told their children to tell him they were out or sick or gone to Pittsburgh.[...] Mr. Smith smiled through it all, managing to keep his eyes focused almost the whole time on his customers' feet. He wore a business suit for his work, but his house was no better than theirs. He never had a woman that any of them knew about and said nothing in church but an occasional 'Amen.'He never beat anybody up and he wasn't seen after dark,so the thought he was probably a nice man. But he was heavily associated with illness and death[...]"(8).

This passage shows how isolated Mr. Smith is from his community. In The Bluest Eye Morrison shows the effect of a community scapegoating an individual. Morrison shows the desolation of Pecola as a result of her community rejecting her at the end of the novel. In the Song of Solomon Morrison introduces this same concept early on in the novel. This quote describes the community's attitude toward Mr. Smith, which leads to his suicide. Morrison states that although the community viewed Mr. Smith as a nice man they associated him with bad thing such as death and illness. This is because of his career as a tax collector. Morrison points out that "he wore a business suit for his work, but his house was no better than theirs". She does this to show that Mr. Smith is not the one who benefits from this tax. It was never Mr. Smith's desire to make these people's live difficult; he only collected the tax because it was his job. Although the government is to blame for the taxes, the community clearly holds Mr. Smith accountable. This displacement of anger can alss be found in The Bluest Eye. For example Cholly displaces his anger on women for the actions of the two white men. Morrison shows that it is human nature to blame an oppressed group or individual rather than the oppressors because it is easier. She stresses in both novels that this displacement is also very destructive.

2."Surely , he thought, he and his sister had some ancestor,[...] who had a name that was real. A name given to him at birth with love and seriousness. A name that was not a joke, nor a disguise, nor a brand name. But who this lithe young man was, and where his cane-stalk legs carried him from or to, could never be known. No. Nor his name. His own parents, in some mood of perverseness or resignation, had agreed to abide by a naming done to them by somebody who couldn't have cared less[...] A literal slip of the pen handed to his father on a piece of paper and which he handed to his only son, and his son likewise handed on to his[...]"(18)

This passage suggests that Macon's parents were absent from his life. As seen in The Bluest Eye with Cholly, this parental absence negatively affects the fathers relationship with his own children.In this quote the absence is symbolized by the "thoughtless" name given to Macon Dead.Morrison shows with both Cholly and Macon that there is a direct correlation between past experiences and present actions.

3."She’d stepped away from him to pick flowers, returned, and at the sound of her footsteps behind him, he’d turned around before he was through. It was becoming a habit—this concentration on things behind him. Almost as though there were no future to be had"(35).

This quote points out Milkman's focus on the past, and how it distinguishes him from other children his age. Earlier in the novel we learn that once Milkman figured out only birds and planes could fly he lost interest in life. He, in a way, became "dead" like his father referenced by their last name. Milkman is clearly affected by the oppressive acts his ancestors had to endure, even though they occurred before his birth. This theme of past oppressive acts affecting future generations can also be found in Beloved and The Bluest Eye .

4."What I’m saying is, under certain conditions they would all do it. And under the same circumstances we would not. So it doesn’t matter that some of them haven’t done it. I listen. I read. And now I know that they know it too. They know they are unnatural. Their writers and artists have been saying it for years. Telling them they are unnatural, telling them they are depraved. They call it tragedy. In the movies they call it adventure. It’s just depravity that they try to make glorious, natural. But it ain’t. The disease they have is in their blood, in the structure of their chromosomes"(157).

Guitar says this in response to Milkman saying not all white people are racist towards African Americans. Guitar believes that the only reason some whites are not oppressive is because they do not have the opportunity. According to him "under certain conditions" all white people would do it. This is somewhat ironic because by calling all whites racist he is in fact being racist himself. Guitar refers to the white society as unnatural. Similarly in The Bluest Eye Morrison suggests that the white standard of beauty is "unnatural".

5."Milkman stood before his mirror and glanced, in the low light of the wall lamp, at his reflection. He was, as usual, unimpressed with what he saw. He had a fine enough face. Eyes women complimented him on, a firm jaw line, splendid teeth. Taken apart it looked all right. Even better than all right. But it lacked coherence, a coming together of the features into a total self. It was all very tentative, the way he looked, like a man peeping around a corner of someplace he is not supposed to be, 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"(69).

In the novel Morrison continuously brings up the idea of lost identity.Milkman like his father has no true name, due to the drunk man mentioned earlier. The loss of their name symbolizes the "loss" of their identity. Milkman states that his face lacks coherence which again stresses the unknown identity. Milkman knows little of his family history. It is only when he discovers the past of his great-grandfather that he is able to feel whole.