Song of Solomon

This poem or what is considered a song was originally described as a love story between a man and a woman. As female authors collaborated, they decided to add the Solomon to give distinction as to who the character was. Along with the addition of Solomon, as the male character, people of different religious backgrounds made an attempt to translate the poem by allegorizing it in order to make it fit in the Bible canon. For example, the Jewish culture interpreted the song as the love between God and Israel. Christians interpreted it as the love between Christ and the church. With the translation The Song of Songs from Marcia Falk, the Song of Solomon and the allegorized stories have created some challenges that will be discussed as well as the…

Toni Morrison 's Song of Solomon introduces many themes of membership, race, wealth, and love. These concepts shape the understanding of the novel by creating a framework. Memberships play a major role characterizing characters choices’, and decisions throughout the novel. Membership is presented as a false wealth and is a catalyst for inner conflict. If the reader misses to analyze the concept of membership, they won’t fully grasp Morrisons main intentions in the Song of Solomon. Morrison wants…

The conclusion of Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon is satisfyingly ambiguous. The reader doesn’t feel the need to know whether Milkman lives or dies because the story comes full circle. The story starting with a leap and ends with one. After Robert Smith leaps into the air, Milkman goes from being the little boy who, “discovered, at four, the same thing Mr. Smith had learned earlier- that only birds and airplanes could fly-he lost interest in himself.” Milkman loses interest in himself, meaning…

What is love? In today’s society, the meaning of the word love ranges in meaning from case to case and context to context. Sometimes maintaining the distinctions between the different uses of the word love is troublesome and souses some angst as to whether the word love has lost its meaning and value and has therefore turned into another catch all word similar to curse words today. Reflecting on love in our own lives and on the Song of Solomon can give us wisdom to affect current…

The Song of Solomon called Songs of Songs, means the “greatest song” or” holiest of holies” in Hebrew. Song of Songs is also found in the Jewish literature of writings (Ketuvim), following the scroll of Ruth. In the Christian Old Testament, it follows the book of Ecclesiastes. The Song of Songs praises sexual love by depicting two male and female characters praising each other. The male and female speakers are referred to as the lover and the shulammite respectively. It is read as a poem of love…

In the novel Song of Solomon, written by Toni Morrison, the concept of flight is used as a literal and metaphorical symbol of escape. Flight has several meanings and interpretations such as, soaring through the sky, running away from something, suicide, a continuous series of stairs from one landing or floor to another, etc. What most people don’t realize is that by choosing to fly away as a means to escape, a person is also deliberately choosing to abandon their life while leaving their family…

Fight or Flight Toni Morrison born out of a mixed race family in Missouri ties in her ancestral line to that of Macon Dead’s in Song of Solomon (Blue). Morrison’s mother flew out of Morrison’s life as quickly as Morrison began life. This inevitably created a deep distrust and mildly anti-American sentiment that is signified throughout Song of Solomon. Morrison’s father was an amazing story-teller and often told Morrison stories about their ancestors (Blue). Her story-telling skills were inspired…

Historically, an allegorical approach to the Song of Solomon dominated Jewish and Christian interpretations of the book (Osborne 232). An allegory is a literary device that conveys an abstract message in pictures (Elwell 1: 55). Hill simplifies the definition by saying, “allegory says one thing but conveys a deeper or hidden meaning” (472). Why would such an approach be taken? For early Christians, viewing the book literally would be contrary to the asceticism that they encouraged, where total…

Song of Solomon—Ch. 9 (with textual references) On page 188, it says that “her [Corinthian’s] education had taught her how to be an enlightened mother and wife, able to contribute to the civilization—or in her case, civilizing—of her community”. Define the racism inherent in this statement and identify the anti-feminist tint. Where else in the novel has such an attitude about African-Americans been expressed? The racism is shown when they said that she would be an “enlightened mother and…

Morrison’s book Song of Solomon, her illustration of a hero greatly contrasts against the main stream media image of a hero because her view of a hero is not someone who is a dragon-slayer, but rather someone who is able to overcome their entrapped life and recognize who they are as an individual in society and the impacts of their actions. Although, her main character, Macon Dead III, better known as Milkman, embarks on a hero’s journey, a monomyth, of self-discovery, Morrison also makes known…