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Post by jamiezimmerman on May 21, 2014 5:53:26 GMT
A discussion on the motif of allusions in Song of Solomon:
Emmet Till: In our studies about Historical Criticism, we learned of the brutal torture and murder of Emmet Till and the subsequent acquittal of the clearly guilty perpetrators. Guitar discusses him in the shop with Milkman, and then explains that the growing injustice served to blacks is paramount to their lives, but Milkman will hear none of it. When hearing of Emmet Till, I think our first reaction includes thoughts of his horrible murder, but I think the circumstance that led to Till's death somewhat parallels Milkman's life. Emmet was transplanted into a community where his actions typical of his demeanor and personality were not received as they would have been in a Northern state. The circumstance of Till temporarily residing with his relatives in Mississippi was unusual. His personality and ideas on what is "okay" and what is not did not jibe with the notions of what is appropriate behavior for black people in highly stratified Mississippi. Milkman is unusual too. Given his race and time period, one would expect he would constantly be at mercy of black-white stigma and racial issues. However, he is privileged, entitled, arrogant, and not at all concerned with racial issues. His actions and personality don't necessarily jibe with the people surrounding him, though Milkman does pursue isolation from people in his life.
I have more to come.
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Post by anaritter on Jun 3, 2014 1:44:50 GMT
I'm sure that the biblical allusions to the names of characters in Song of Solomon will have some major overlap with the discussion of the "Names" group, but I thought it would be interesting to focus on the purpose of making a connection between the Bible and the names of many of the characters.
Pilate - Pontius Pilate is the Roman governor and judge who sentences Jesus to death by crucifixion
Hagar - a servant of Abraham who bears Abraham's child and is thrown out of the house for it by Sarah, his sterile wife
Reba - one of five kings slain by the children of Israel
First Corinthians - a letter from the Apostle Paul to the church of Corinth intended to correct the immorality therein
Mary Magdalene (Magdalene) - considered one of Jesus' bravest followers
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rishi
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Post by rishi on Jun 4, 2014 2:09:22 GMT
On top of the allusions already mentioned by Jamie and Ana, there is also an allusion to The Odyssey by Homer. In Song of Solomon, Circe is the former servant of a rich white family, and she keeps many pets. Furthermore, she assists Milkman as he is journeying towards his home. In these ways, Circe from Song of Solomon is similar to Circe from The Odyssey.
It is fairly simple to identify the allusions present in the novel, but it is a little difficult to ascertain their function. The knowledge of Biblical or other literary characters and concepts may create preconceived impressions of the characters in "Song of Solomon." An effect like this conveys to the reader the true weight a name carries in both literature and in the real world. Furthermore, the absence of Biblical or literary knowledge may play an important role in our understandings of Song of Solomon. This is especially true for me because I am not very religious and have little to no knowledge of the Bible. That said, I had no idea who characters such as Pilate and Hagar were in the Bible. I did not even know what the "Song of Solomon" was. Because of my lack of prior knowledge, I was forced to create my own interpretations of the characters. What were their values? What were their functions in answering Morrison's questions that she based the novel off of? Unlike the knowledge of names and allusions which demonstrates the importance of names, the lack of knowledge of allusions while reading Song of Solomon conveyed to me the insignificance of names. Names are material. Having a certain name does not necessarily mean that you are destined to behave a certain way. The knowledge of allusions AND the lack of knowledge of allusions serve two distinct purposes in Morrison's novel that both ultimately comment on the importance of the name.
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Post by emilybrinkmann on Jun 4, 2014 3:37:18 GMT
Oh the allusions... There are several allusions in Song of Solomon. The first one I noticed was Hansel and Gretel. The fairytale story of the young siblings that get led off to their fate by their reluctant father is reflected in Milkman and his path that he is on. Another allusion is Lincoln, President Lincoln was someone who believed first in the joining of the North and South and then fought for the abolishment of slavery. Both of these showed his belief in the representation of the underdog. There are also several biblical allusions, starting with the title. Song of Songs, or Song of Solomon, is the love of love. It is a great love and appreciation for others. As Jamie was talking about Milkman goes against what you would expect from someone of his color. But he goes against the norms and lets his personality speak for itself. And although I don't agree with much that he does, I do admire that he doesn't let social boundaries and expectations define him.
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Post by haleyjensen on Jun 4, 2014 6:47:21 GMT
As others have pointed out, there are many biblical allusions in Song of Solomon that play a role in how we read and interpret the text. For me, the first allusion that comes to mind is the allusion of the title. Song of Solomon is the name of a book in the Old Testament in the Bible. The Song of Solomon (also called Song of Songs) in the bible is described by my pastor as "erotic Hebrew love poetry". It is the story of a man and a woman on the night of their wedding, and describes the intricate relationship between a man, a woman, and God. Considering the allusions of the title, this poses several possible "main" questions in the novel, such as: What is the purpose of sex? What do people look to gain from relationships? On page 98, Morrison writes of Milkman,"There were months when Hagar would not see him, then he'd appear one day and she was all smiles and welcome" (Morrison 98). It's interesting to me to think about the differences between how sex is portrayed in Song of Solomon the novel, and Song of Solomon in the Bible, which is why I believe the central questions to the novel revolve around relationships and possible sex.
Another allusion from this novel is the name "Hagar". There are many interesting Biblical names in this book, but I find this one particularly interesting because of the mother-son connotations it has. Hagar was Abraham's servant, who had one of Abraham's children when he did not think his wife Sarah was going to be able to have children. But, Sarah did end up having children and there was a bit of tension between Sarah and her son Issac, and Hagar and her son Ishmael. Thus, Hagar and Ishmael were sent off.
This could be a bit of the "embryo" effect, but I do not think it is an accident that Morrison chooses to develop a relationship between Hagar, whose name is the name of a mother who dearly loves her son, and Milkman, who nickname exists because of a stage he had in his relationship with his mother. If a reader recognizes that Morrison is rubbing name cats together, I think it is a whole different reading experience because of the associations that names bring with them.
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Post by sammywong on Jun 4, 2014 6:58:48 GMT
I think it's interesting how some character's names are biblical allusions, but a few characters are not. Significance in this? Though Milkman does have a name pulled from the bible, he really only uses the nickname "Milkman" given to him from the unfortunate event when he was younger. I think not using his real name when another name conveniently pops up illustrates just how important the biblical references mean to the characters. To put it bluntly, they mean absolutely nothing. Biblical names are used only out of tradition in Song of Solomon.
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Post by yongkim on Jun 4, 2014 6:59:19 GMT
There are a lot of overlaps between names and allusions in Song of Solomon. As Ana has already stated, our group discussed the biblical allusions, specifically the names. However, some characters did and did not live up to their biblical name. Let's first look at Pilate. In the Bible, Pilate is infamous for allowing the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. While Pilate Dead has similarities in that she can be seen as a very powerful individual, she does not seem to be anything like the Roman Governor in the Bible as she has so much love for someone who has been through hardship. Unlike Pilate, Hagar is a character with a Biblical name who unfortunately lives up to her historical predecessor. Similar to Abraham's servant, Hagar in Song of Solomon has no luck when it comes love. Hagar, in both the Bible and the novel, is ultimately driven away from the people they have grown to love.
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Post by hannahboe on Jun 4, 2014 13:02:24 GMT
Of all the allusions discussed above, I think the Emmett Till connection is the strongest. It is a concrete event which contextualizes much of the story (time/racial tensions/popular response) and brings the racial issues of the story to the forefront for a time. While Song of Solomon is not explicitly about race (in fact, it is more about identity and relationships than anything), the Till allusion really drives that subplot of the story.
Allusions in names (Biblical, Homeric, etc.) are also very significant because the novel IS so much about identity. People can define or be defined by their names and I think we see this a lot in the story. Being named after someone can often mean struggling to live up to that name and I think the same is true for Biblical and Homeric names because they are so strong and their connotation are extremely powerful.
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