Writing Reality in Fiction
Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon
Morrison’s Childhood
 Born Chloe Anthony Wofford in 1931
 Grew up in Lorain, Ohio
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Setting for many of her novels
 Parents George and Ramah Willis Wofford
 Interested in reading and writing
 Quite taken with classic literature
Education
 Early education in hometown
 Howard University, B.A. in English, 1953
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Jaded by superficial lifestyle
Changed her name to Toni
 Cornell University, M.A. in English literature,
1955
Career
 Taught English at various universities (Howard,
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Texas Southern)
Senior editor at Random House 1965-85
Famous written works: Song of Solomon,
Beloved, The Bluest Eye, Playing in the Dark:
Whiteness and the Literary Imagination
Famous works edited: Race-ing Justice, EnGendering Power
Also the writer of children’s books, musical
productions, and various scholarly articles
Personal Life
 Married Harold Morrison in 1958
 Had two sons: Harold Ford and Slade Kevin
 Divorced in 1964
 Raised her sons as a single mother
 Never remarried
Aims of Writing
 Strives to lay bare the injustice inherent in the
black condition and blacks' efforts,
individually and collectively, to transcend
society's unjust boundaries
 Depicts the hurt inflicted by blacks on blacks
to deprive readers of stock responses
 Believes language is expression of black
experience
Song of Solomon
 Published in 1977
 Most linear novel; also longest yet
 Won the National Book Critics Circle Award in
1977
 First novel by a black writer to become a
Book-of-the-Month Club selection since
Richard Wright's Native Son was published in
1940
Major Themes
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Material wealth versus spiritual wealth
Alienating effects of racism
Flight versus fight
Abandoned women
Anaconda love versus real love
Importance of community and family in the
creation of an individual’s identity
 Supernatural/Magical Realism
Motifs and Symbols
 Motifs
Names
 Singing
 Biblical Allusions
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 Symbols
Gold
 Artificial Roses
 Whiteness
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Rooted in Experience
 Both her parents and grandparents harbored
racist feelings toward white people
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Believed white people were genetically corrupt
 Guitar as composite character
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Represents the destroying effects of racism on
the individual
Inspired by Experiences
 Grandfather’s land stolen from him by white
land owners
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Jake (Macon Dead I) experiences are similar
 Also greatly influenced by the customs and
beliefs of her cultural background
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Importance of community and the supernatural
Morrison and Milkman
 Transformed by a journey through the south,
in which she came to terms with her heritage
and ancestry
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Milkman must journey through the south to
discover his heritage
 Morrison’s writing career did not begin until
her 30s
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Milkman does not begin to really live until he is
in his 30s