The fathers may soar
And the children may know their names
The opening epigraph to Toni Morrison's epic Song of Solomon establishes three themes that persist throughout the novel -- flight, names, and paternal relationships. These themes systematically exclude women, highlighting problematic gender dynamics.
First of all, none of the women in Milkman's world are physically able to fly. Morrison describes Mr. Smith's flight, Solomon's flight, and Milkman's flight; all three aviators are male. It's clear that flight is a skill reserved for only the men in Milkman's world. Rather than experiencing flight themselves, the women are forced to deal with the consequences of male flight. Just as Solomon leaves Ryna to care for twenty-something children, Milkman leaves his mother, his sisters, and his cousin Reba to cope with his absence. In these examples, Morrison shows a pattern of seemingly heroic men who leave their female family members behind.
The women's names are also fundamentally different from those of the men. In the Dead family, the misnomer Macon is carefully passed from grandfather to father to son. Even though the name is a mistake, it connects generations of men and makes them recognizable to others. Other men in the novel, such as Guitar Bains, use nicknames that highlight their unique qualities. Meanwhile, women in the Dead family are named by flipping through the Bible and randomly picking whatever name looks nice. This naming practice is especially ironic when one considers the Dead family's non-relationship to Christianity and the Bible. Because they're not that religious, choosing a random name from the Bible is basically the same as choosing from a phone book.
In each of the families that Morrison writes, the men are clearly shown as failing in their familial duties. Solomon drops his son but manages to escape himself. Macon I dies protecting his land, leaving his two children to manage by themselves. Macon II beats his wife and terrifies the rest of his family. Milkman treats his sisters like shit, hates his mom, drives his cousin/girlfriend to insanity, and attempts to rob his beloved aunt. In all of these examples, women are left to deal with the consequences of men's actions.
And the children may know their names
The opening epigraph to Toni Morrison's epic Song of Solomon establishes three themes that persist throughout the novel -- flight, names, and paternal relationships. These themes systematically exclude women, highlighting problematic gender dynamics.
First of all, none of the women in Milkman's world are physically able to fly. Morrison describes Mr. Smith's flight, Solomon's flight, and Milkman's flight; all three aviators are male. It's clear that flight is a skill reserved for only the men in Milkman's world. Rather than experiencing flight themselves, the women are forced to deal with the consequences of male flight. Just as Solomon leaves Ryna to care for twenty-something children, Milkman leaves his mother, his sisters, and his cousin Reba to cope with his absence. In these examples, Morrison shows a pattern of seemingly heroic men who leave their female family members behind.
The women's names are also fundamentally different from those of the men. In the Dead family, the misnomer Macon is carefully passed from grandfather to father to son. Even though the name is a mistake, it connects generations of men and makes them recognizable to others. Other men in the novel, such as Guitar Bains, use nicknames that highlight their unique qualities. Meanwhile, women in the Dead family are named by flipping through the Bible and randomly picking whatever name looks nice. This naming practice is especially ironic when one considers the Dead family's non-relationship to Christianity and the Bible. Because they're not that religious, choosing a random name from the Bible is basically the same as choosing from a phone book.
In each of the families that Morrison writes, the men are clearly shown as failing in their familial duties. Solomon drops his son but manages to escape himself. Macon I dies protecting his land, leaving his two children to manage by themselves. Macon II beats his wife and terrifies the rest of his family. Milkman treats his sisters like shit, hates his mom, drives his cousin/girlfriend to insanity, and attempts to rob his beloved aunt. In all of these examples, women are left to deal with the consequences of men's actions.
I like the connections you drew between naming and flying. I also wondered even in the first quote why Morison chose "fathers". The theme of flying is fascinating because it isn't explicitly good, in that solomon's flight is tied to Ryna's gulch or Milkman's actions hurt the women in his family. I wonder why Morison used gender roles in this way. Perhaps there is a certain realism to her writing since gender roles are not perfect or fair in real life and she depicts this, or maybe she was trying to point out the hypocrisy or pain milkman and other men caused.
ReplyDeleteit's interesting to see how in the beginning of the book, men are kind of depicted as the heroes but later on, it's proven that the women really are -- namely Pilate. she's proven to be basically the only character who is the true hero of the story. she was willing to do anything for the people she cared about.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting observation that I hadn't noticed before. I do think that Milkman didn't make the best choices in the novel, but out of all the men in the Dead family he didn't seem to be the worst one to me. Honestly, we don't actually see a lot of how Milkman treats his sisters -- we just hear about it when Lena tells us. He also wasn't too interested in robbing Pilate. As soon as Guitar became interested, Milkman didn't really care anymore. The only truly malicious act I can find of Milkman's is his treatment of Hagar.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good point, Milkman wasn't really trying to be malicious towards his sisters. He was just so completely ignorant to all they did for him, and he wasn't especially kind or grateful. I would argue that his snitching on First Corinthians was pretty rude, even though he claimed to do it for her own well-being.
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