The Bluest Eye And Song Of Solomon Analysis

Since the contemporary time, African American women novelists have broken down the relationship between class, gender, and race. Toni Morrison is a writer whose novels consists of this relationship. In Morrison's novels, she reveals the issues of feminism concerning African American females. In her six novels, Morrison tells the bias images of black women as powerful or powerless. In two of her works, "The Bluest Eye" and "Song of Solomon", one of the many themes are Women and Feminity and Abandonment of Women. To begin, "The Bluest Eye" is Toni Morrison's first novel. This novel tells a story of an African American girl's desire for the bluest eyes, which is the symbol for her of what it means to feel beautiful and accepted in society (American). In the novel, women suffer from the racial oppression, but they also suffer from violation and harsh actions brought to them by men (LitCharts). Male oppression is told all throughout the story, but the theme of women and feminity with the actions of male oppression over the women reaches its horrible climax when one
the characters, Cholly, rapes his own daughter (LitCharts). This scene is the viewpoint of Cholly and with no viewpoint of his daughter in this scene, shows the silencing over women of male oppression. (CHOLLY SAW HER DIMLY AND COULD NOT TELL WHAT HE SAW OR WHAT HE FELT. THEN HE BECAME AWARE THAT HE WAS UNCOMFORTABLE; NEXT HE FELT THE DISCOMFORT DISSOLVE INTO PLEASURE. THE SEQUENCE OF HIS EMOTIONS WAS REVULSION, GUILT, PITY, THEN LOVE) Secondly, in Morrison's third novel, "Song of Solomon", the theme of abandonment of women is consisted in it. In this story, the women are left by their men to provide for themselves. When the character, Solomon, leaves his wife, he is considered a hero for escaping slavery and his wife's suffering is deemed as punishment (Themes). Solomon's victory is focused on over his wife's grief even though she is now alone with her many children and fending for them by herself (Themes). With not only Solomon leaving his wife, another character also leaves behind his wife. In this story, Morrison accentuates the women's stuggles to show the unfair principles that are put upon them (Themes). (NO. IF THE "SOLOMON DON'T LEAVE ME" LINE WAS RIGHT, SOLOMON WAS THE ONE WHO LEFT, WHO "FLEW AWAY"- MEANING DIED OR RAN OFF- NOT JAKE. MAYBE IT WAS THE BABY, OR JAKE HIMSELF, WHO WAS BEGGING HIM TO STAY. BUT WHO WAS THE "BLACK LADY" WHO FELL DOWN ON THE GROUND? WHY DID SHE THROW HER BODY ALL AROUND? IT SOUNDED LIKE SHE WAS HAVING A FIT. WAS IT BECAUSE SOMEBODY TOOK HER BABY FIRST TO A WHITE MAN'S HOUSE, THEN TO AN INDIAN'S HOUSE?...... NO. IT'S SOLOMON SHE IS CRYING FOR, NOT A BABY. "SOLOMON DON'T LEAVE ME." HE MUST HAVE BEEN HER LOVER) Thirdly, in both novels, "The Bluest Eye" and "Song of Solomon", Morrison uses the themes Women and Feminity and Abandonment of Women to show the relationship between class, gender, and race.
The issues concerning male oppression in "The Bluest Eye" and the abandonment of women in "Song of Solomon" all deal with low class African American women. Also in these works by Morrison, the historical of them become reality not only to the characters but the readers as well, through imagery, folk lores, the oral histories, and metaphoric perceptions of the communities (Cyganowski). As Keith Lawrence states in his overview in Twentieth- Century Young Adult Writers, "... she is not afraid to describe women and men as sexual beings; she knows precisely what it means to be a women; and she helps illuminate the relative truth of the values which male society- and women themselves- have assigned to womenhood"
(Overview). In conclusion, Toni Morrison's works all deal with class, gender, and race. However, they also deal with the issues of women and the problems they face. Her way of depiction is based on empathy, revealing the humanity and purposes behind the silence of "the misrepresented and the misunderstood" (Chick).