One of the things that fascinated me in "Song of Solomon" was the way in which the members of Milkman´s family are described and the way they interact. Each of them has some kind of weakness, something they lack in their lives; and while they are busy making life a living hell for each other, a (certain) balance has formed that consists of unspoken rules and makes up their family life. As the story unfolds we get to see the situation through the eyes of all the family members, as they in turn justify their own positions while laying blame on other members. Sooner or later we realize that there are no true villains or victims. I found this very much ´believable´.
Carsten Gutzler
At a first glance it seems difficult for a white European to understand Toni Morrison´s work and the world she creates in her novels. But nevertheless her writing is enormously fascinating and impressive to me. In Song of Solomon it is especially the character of Pilate and her integral connection to folklore that brought me closer to the African-American subject. An archetypal black folk singer and a conjurer - these are only two of the many characteristics and qualities that Pilate embodies. She is without doubt outstanding in Song of Solomon: her lack of a navel isolates her and enhances her otherness, the brass box earring containing her name shows that Pilate adheres to the importance of the African ritual of namegiving, and especially Pilate´s singing, which runs through the whole book as a leitmotif, reveals her identification with African-American tradition. Thus Pilate functions as a role model for Milkman, who finally discovers his true heritage and his connection to the black culture. But Toni Morrison does not present her characters in terms of "right" and "wrong"; thus Pilate, who is surely a very wise and good character, does not have enough understanding for her granddaughter Hagar. But that makes her more human and more credible.
Sometimes strange and exotic, Toni Morrison´s writing, however, allows you to gain access to her world and her poetic language guarantees that one highly enjoys reading her novel.
Esther Dinklage
And talking about dark! You think dark is just one color, but it ain´t. There´re five or six kinds of black. Some silky, some woolly. Some just empty. Some like fingers. And it don´t stay still. It moves and changes from one kind of black to another. Saying something is pitch black is like saying something is green. What kind of green? Green like my bottles? Green like a grasshopper? Green like a cucumber, lettuce or green like the sky is just before it breaks loose to storm? Well, night black is the same way. May as well be a rainbow.
(Pilate in Toni Morrison´s Song of Solomon)
Among many other readings Toni Morrison´s books can often be read from a socio-historical background. By telling stories about black people she also tells the history of black people in their great variety of approaches to life in a world dominated by white politics and white morality. One way of looking at these factions is to consider their different degrees of assimilation to this "white world".
One exceptionally rich example for this is Song of Solomon with the protagonists Pilate, Guitar, Milkman and Macon Dead, all embodying a specific attitude of black America after the Civil War.
Pilate represents one extreme with her utter disregard of white standards like wealth, respectability and proper education. She shows interest in her black heritage and pride in herself that does not define itself by property alone. The opposite extreme is her brother Macon Dead. He has realized the closest adoption of white middle-class values possible for a black man. His aims are limited to the accumulation of capital and the (materialized) respectability of a decent home and family-life. The third approach to black emancipation was the violent resistance to white "oppression". Guitar — of lower class background — is particularly apt to adopt this cause. Milkman stands somewhere in between and cannot decide how to approach his future. His development towards an awareness of his past also means an ongoing alienation from his father's values but his upbringing prevents a free fall into violence.
In telling the stories from a black neighborhood through more than four decades Toni Morrison also gives an account of the development of black politics throughout this century. Incarnations of a rising racial awareness such as W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X with their different strategies are given "everyday" counterparts in Pilate, Macon, Milkman and Guitar. In addition to all its other story-telling merits the book succeeds in giving life to an otherwise abstract topic that would be difficult for any European (white?) reader to grasp. In writing Song of Solomon, Morrison painted a picture of black America with all the "rainbow colors of black" and the viewer/reader can decide which color he likes best.
Martin Ortmann
In his criticism of the novel Jazz Reich-Ranicki expresses the opinion that the story allows no access for him, because the impact was totally "fremd", 'foreign' in the sense of 'strange'. This may partly be attributed to the structure of the work as far as the representation of jazz features in literature is in fact an unusual experiment. But partly Reich-Ranicki's astonishment may also be due to the language and the setting of Morrison´s work in general. If this is the major reason for the rejection, the question arises as to whether literature must be universal. Toni Morrison herself is convinced that she can only write about a specific part of the world which is familiar to her and that only in this world does she find the right characters for her subjects. In my opinion this does not mean that the exclusion of readers with different cultural background is inevitable. Her aim is rather to encourage the audience to participate in the story. Avoiding too explicit descriptions allows the reader to contribute his own experiences. But this method involves the danger of misunderstanding, especially when the reader is not familiar with the cultural background.
Thus my experience in reading the novel Song of Solomon showed that background information is necessary. At first sight I was astonished by the fact that nearly all characters turned out to be real outsiders, each distinguished by several peculiarities and individual reasons for refusing to adapt to the community. But contrary to all expectations the society puts up with their behavior and does not expel them. Toward Reba or First Corinthians, for instance, the people act distanced but accept them. Only Pilate experienced insecurity and isolation because of her unnatural lack of a navel. The community´s tolerant treatment of pariahs needs to be explained by black people´s acceptance of evil as a natural force among the good. Besides, in former times the black community allowed more individualism and eccentricity. As Morrison stated, "people were more interesting than they are now" (Thomas Le Clair/1981).
One of her central objectives, then, is to prevent the people from forgetting about the black community of the past and its special traditions. For the same reason she works elements of the black culture into her novels, their language, expressions, imagery and of course myths. Before recognizing that flying was considered a talent of black people I was inclined to take the roof-jumping insurance agent Robert Smith as a grotesque example for insanity, especially since the note he left did not reveal that he simply planned to commit suicide. In the eyes of a white European, the insurance agent's illusion of being capable of flying like a bird was either a case of megalomania or a link to similar, mythically strange incidents in our tradition. The author does not seem to reject the latter: "If it means Icarus for some readers, fine; I want to take credit for that" (LeClair/1981).
For my part I enjoyed getting involved in a world which so far had been unknown to me but of course I am not sure that I attached the right meaning to several elements. Admittedly my emotions and associations during the reading of Song of Solomon might have been quite different from those of black readers; on the other hand the reflection about elements of "strange" surprise increased the entertainment value.
My assertion is that this kind of regional or specific literature was not only written for those who are familiar with the earlier black community. The appeal not to forget about the specific black traditions requires a larger readership instead of a limited target group. Bringing the Afro-American culture into the awareness of people all over the world might succeed best keeping it alive.
Nicola Kowski