Universität Paderborn
Seminar Paper for the Hauptseminar
11. Semester

Mythology in Toni Morrison′s Song of Solomon:
The motif of "flight"

von: Daniela Grosche

Contents

I. INTRODUCTION 4

II. THE FUNCTION OF MYTHOLOGY IN SONG OF SOLOMON  5

III. THE MOTIF OF “FLIGHT” IN THE FOLKTALES OF THE “FLYING AFRICANS”  6

1. “FLIGHT” AS A COMMUNAL ESCAPE IN “PEOPLE WHO COULD FLY”  6
2. “FLIGHT” AS A SOLITARY ESCAPE IN TONI MORRISON’S UPDATED VERSION  7

IV. THE MOTIF OF “FLIGHT” IN SONG OF SOLOMON 9

1. MILKMAN DEAD`S WISH FOR FLIGHT 9
2. MILKMAN’S INAUTHENTICITY 10
3. PILATE, THE PILOT  14
4. MILKMAN’S AUTHENTIC IDENTITY 15

V. DIFFERENT MODES OF “FLIGHT”  19

1. MILKMAN’S FLIGHT 19
2. PILATE, THE SUGARGIRL 21

VI. CONCLUSION 23

VII. BIBLIOGRAPHY 24

I. Introduction

The novel is needed by African-Americans now in a way that it was not needed before – and it is following along the lines of the function of novels everywhere. We don‘t live in places where we can hear those stories anymore; parents don‘t sit around and tell their children those classical, mythological, archetypal stories that we heard years ago. But new information has got to get out, and there are several ways to do it. One is the novel.1

With this statement Toni Morrison clearly suggests the function of her novel Song of Solomon. That is, on the one hand, the preservation of traditional Afro-American folktales and on the other hand their adaptation to contemporary times. Realizing this double function, it is very challenging to make the analysis of the mythological character of the novel the topic of a seminar paper. Song of Solomon is spiritually grounded in the folktale “People who could fly”2, an Afro-American folktale, which depicts the escape of a community of slaves by taking flight. Therefore I will center my analysis on the motif of “flight” in the novel, presenting different ways of interpretation. First of all, I will point out the function of myth in Song of Solomon. In the third chapter I will concentrate on the folktale “People who could fly”, comparing it with Toni Morrison’s narration about Solomon. Being the focal point of this seminar paper, the discussion of the motif of “flight” follows in the fourth part. It deals with the connection between the motif of “flight”, which turns up time and again in Milkman’s life, and Milkman’s search for his identity. Moreover I will point out Pilate’s role in Milkman’s quest for his cultural heritage. The last chapter contains a discussion of the different modes of “flight” and their significance.

II. The Function of Mythology in Song of Solomon

As I already mentioned in the Introduction, Toni Morrison wrote a novel with a mythological background to contribute to the maintenance of certain cultural norms and values. However, before I will concentrate on her motives more intensively, I want to examine the meaning of the concept of “myth”. Richard Stotkin points out the connection between “myth” and “ideology” as follows: The terms “myth” and “ideology” describe essential attributes of every human culture. Ideology is an abstraction of the systems of beliefs, values, and institutional relationships that characterize a particular culture or society; mythology is the body of traditional narratives that exemplifies and historicizes ideology. Myths are stories, drawn from history, that have acquired through usage over many generations a symbolizing function central to the culture of the society that produces them.... [M]yths suggest that by understanding and imaginatively reenacting the conflict resolutions of the past, we can interpret and control the unresolved conflicts of the present.3

In other words, myths implicitly have an ideological character, which helps to maintain the system of beliefs and values of a culture. At the same time, the messages of myths can still be valid in the present, helping to solve the conflicts of the new generation. However, as far as her novel Song of Solomon is regarded, Toni Morrison does not merely want to combine a traditional folktale with a novel – she rather wants to renew the tale. It is her aim to infuse it with “new information”4 and to transmit this mixture of tradition and modern age to succeeding generations. Through an adaptation of the archetypal folktale to contemporary times, the message of the tale becomes more comprehensible to Afro- American readers, who in this way will learn “how to behave in this new world.”5

III. The Motif of “Flight” in the Folktales of the “Flying Africans”

1. “Flight” as a Communal Escape in “People who could fly”

The folktale of the Flying African exists in various versions. One of the traditional tales is Julius Lester‘s narration “People who could fly.“ This folktale deals with a slave who was the son of an African witch doctor and who “carried with him the secrets and powers of the generations of Africa.”6 One day, when the slaves had to work in the fields, a young woman collapsed in the heat and was whipped by the white man. Thereupon the young witch doctor whispered something in her ear, which she, in turn, whispered to the next slave. So it went on around the whole field. When another slave fainted, the young doctor uttered a strange word and the man who had fainted rose from the ground and flew away. When the young women collapsed the second time, the witch doctor uttered the same word again, and the woman flew away as well. Finally all of the Africans stretched out their arms and flew away, back to Africa.7

What is striking about this version of the myth is the sense of community, which is mediated by the witch doctor’s behavior. Employing his knowledge and tribal wisdom at the appropriate moment, he makes possible a communal escape from slavery and oppression. The witch doctor deliberately passes on the liberating black word to the other slaves, in this way effecting a “group transcendence of the debilitating conditions of African oppression.”8 In other words, in this traditional tale the act of “flight” is a symbol of freedom, which enables an entire community to overcome mistreatment and suffering.

2. “Flight” as a Solitary Escape in Toni Morrison’s Updated Version

[...]

1 Toni Morrison, “Rootedness: The Ancestor as Foundation,” in Black Woman Writers 1950-1980: A Critical Evaluation, ed. by Mari Evans (New York: Doubleday, 1984), pp. 339-45, quoted in Michael Awkward, “Unruly and Let Loose,” in Toni Morrison’s ‘Song of Solomon,’ A Casebook, ed. by Jan Furman (Oxford: University Press, 2003), pp. 68.

2 Julius Lester, “People who could fly,” in Black Folktales, ed. by Julius Lester (New York: Richard W. Baron, 1969), pp. 147-152.

3 Richard Stotkin, “Myth and the Production of History,” in Ideology and Classic American Literature, ed. by Sacvan Bercovitch et al. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986), pp. 70-90, quoted in Michael Awkward, “Unruly and Let Loose,” in Toni Morrison’s ‘Song of Solomon,’ A Casebook, ed. by Jan Furman (Oxford: University Press, 2003), pp. 72.

4 Toni Morrison, “Rootedness: The Ancestor as Foundation,” p. 68.

5 Ibid., p. 69.

6 Julius Lester, “People who could fly”, p. 149.

7 See: Julius Lester, pp. 147-152.

8 Michael Awkward, “Unruly and Let Loose,” in Toni Morrison’s ‘Song of Solomon,’ A Casebook, ed. by Jan Furman (Oxford: University Press, 2003), p. 70.