{"id":109,"date":"2005-10-18T08:00:59","date_gmt":"2005-10-18T12:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2005\/660\/?p=109"},"modified":"2005-10-18T09:01:40","modified_gmt":"2005-10-18T13:01:40","slug":"morrisons-writing-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2005\/660\/2005\/10\/18\/morrisons-writing-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Morrison’s writing style"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, it seems that everyone has covered a large variety of topics, which, as Ada pointed out, is part of Song of Solomon<\/em> – the vast array of possibilities.  So much is going on that it is difficult to just choose one area on which to focus.  I also agree with “skjeldaa” about the uncertainty of this text’s place within the course organization.  I, too, found this novel one of the most accessible in terms of understanding, and I appreciate Morrison’s poetic use of language; yet, for those reasons and for the ones “skjeldaa” mentions (chronological unfolding of storyline – which Morrison tells us she found necessary-, firm placement in and search for historical place and time), this text does not seem to fit into “postmodernism” as we have been discussing (though I know that labeling or not labeling postmodern texts is not our goal here).  One thing I have considered before, which may be one factor is the intense use of symbolism.  Song of Solomon<\/em> is saturated with symbolism, which, unlike some of the other texts we’ve studied so far, I find to be more natural in the unfolding of the story.  Morrison’s inclusion of symbolism and metaphor seem to be a fluid part of her storytelling, not as harsh or blatant as, say,  Pynchon’s in The Crying of Lot 49<\/em>.  All of that being said, I am going to focus on Morrison’s writing style, which not many have yet addressed.<\/p>\n

Toni Morrison is often known for her poetic use of language, and as I mentioned, I found her writing style refreshing.  I don’t need a standard shape or sound to a story (and through the selections for this class, I have learned to appreciate the variety of styles available to authors); yet, I enjoyed being able to appreciate the words Morrison chose and the sounds and images they evoked because I was not so preoccupied untangling the storyline (or that one is lacking, as in some of the texts we’ve read!)  Not saying that Song of Solomon<\/em> was easy to completely understand or resolve – I am sure there are many nuances I missed in my first reading – but I was not so confused about the events taking place that I couldn’t also appreciate the language.  I got to thinking about Morrison’s specific choice of words throughout the story primarily because of her remarks in the Foreword.  The detail to which she describes the intention and unfolding of the first sentence of the text (from its mockery of journalistic style to its containment of “important signs and crucial information” (xiii) – the significance of “life,” “mutual,” “fly,” “mercy,” and even the geographic locations chosen for their representations of various journeys) got me thinking about just how much thought she put into the 337 pages she created for us.  If that much thought went into one line, how much effort and time went into the rest?  As I came across scenes that I felt seemed unnecessary, I tried searching for a greater purpose they might serve in the grand scheme of the entire novel.  Many have already addressed her use of names (symbolic or alluding in design, though we collectively do not seem to have uncovered all of their meanings), so I will instead point out some of her artistically crafted metaphors.  One that especially grabbed my attention toward the beginning involves Macon’s desire for ownership.  Once Milkman has started working for him (during which scene Macon is delighted over his son’s “belonging” to him), Macon sees opportunities to expand his business:  “He knew as a Negro he wasn’t going to get a big slice of the pie.  But there were properties nobody wanted yet, or little edges of property somebody didn’t want Jew to have, or Catholics to have, or properties nobody knew were of any value yet.  There was quite a bit of pie filling oozing around the edge of the crust in 1945.  Filling that could be his” (63).  The “piece of the pie” metaphor certainly is not original; however, Morrison takes it a step further by embellishing Macon’s desires – he may not get the pie (which whites only have access to), but the filling and edges of the pie are still up for grabs.  Morrison paints an image of the messy, unconventional way for Macon to acquire or get closer to acquiring what the white businessmen have\/own.  I also loved the allusion to (and disillusionment of) the building of the pyramids (representing the disillusionment of his father as patriarch and awe-inspiring power figure?) in Milkman’s view once he initiates the search for his own control and his own place in his life by hitting his father:  “There was the pain and shame of seeing his father crumple before a man – even himself.  Sorrow in discovering that the pyramid was not a five-thousand-year wonder of the civilized world, mysteriously and permanently constructed by generation after generation of hardy men who had died in order to perfect it, but that it in fact had been made in the back room at Sears, by a clever window-dresser, of papier-mache, guaranteed to last for a mere lifetime” (68).  The symbolic possibilities of this comparison are almost overwhelming.  To what, exactly, is Morrison comparing the pyramids?  Is it Macon as a power figure in the family and in Milkman’s life?  Is it more?  And how does that comparison hold up as the rest of the story develops and we find out the other events that unfold between these two men whose roles continue to shift in each others’ lives after this point?  There are, of course, countless more, but I have long overrun my word limit by now.  I look forward to our discussions in class today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, it seems that everyone has covered a large variety of topics, which, as Ada pointed out, is part of Song of Solomon – the vast array of possibilities.  So much is going on that it is difficult to just choose one area on which to focus.  I also agree with “skjeldaa” about the uncertainty … Continue reading Morrison’s writing style<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reflections"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2005\/660\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2005\/660\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2005\/660\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2005\/660\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2005\/660\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2005\/660\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2005\/660\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2005\/660\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/fall2005\/660\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}