The Irrelevance Of Black Life In Toni Morrison's Song Of Solomon

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison explores the toxic relationship within a family living on “Not Doctor Street” in Michigan during the early 1950’s and 60’s prior to the Civil Rights Act and end the of segregation. Even though they were no longer slaves, they were treated as if they were not a meaningful part of society. Blacks worked in low paying jobs and lived in all- black neighborhoods. Throughout the novel, there is a theme of the irrelevance of black lives. The very name “Dead” was given to the first Macon Dead (Milkman’s grandfather). Toni Morrison uses the names of the characters to illustrate how unimportant blacks are perceived to be. For example, the last name “Dead” came about from a drunk Union officer who misinterpreted Milkman’s …show more content…
Eventually, the story focuses on the main character of the novel, Milkman Dead. Several events cause Milkman to leave home and head South in search of the gold that his father and aunt left behind after accidentally murdering a white man. Milkman’s father, Macon, believes his sister, Pilate, took the gold and has it hanging from the ceiling in a green bag. Macon encourages Milkman to steal this green bag of “gold” from Pilate. Milkman decides to bring his best friend, Guitar, along to commit the crime. Unfortunately, the two men are caught and put in jail. The bag turns out to be filled with the bones of his dead grandfather and not the gold.. Milkman then goes on a journey to find the gold, but instead finds out more about himself and where he comes from as stated, “He also learns that the real gold in Shalimar is his African heritage” (Milliman 1). On his journey in Shalimar, he continues to have many near-death …show more content…
Solomon reportedly flew off to Africa and left behind twenty-one children including the first Macon A life could be lost at any moment. During slavery children and mothers, brothers and sisters, and wives and husbands were constantly being torn from one another. For example, dropping a tray or looking at a white woman could result in a serious beating or even death. The white plantation owners had several slaves working for them and slaves were a source of cheap labor. Therefore, killing off one slave would not be too much of a loss as they could be easily replaced. In some cases, it came to the point where relatives could be living on the same plantation without knowing of each other. This is due to all the separation and confusion that was caused by the buying and selling of slaves. Slaves were torn from their culture. They had no concept of heritage; they could only live in the present. ”Like many African Americans, they derived their identities from absence rather than presence” (Milliman 1). This quote explains that without a family there was no cultural heritage to pass down and there were no examples to be set for the younger generation. The Dead’s past with slavery contributed to their current insensitivity towards