Usage of Love in "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison.
Usage of Love in Song of Solomon
The main goal for an author is to grab the reader's attention and keep them interested in what they are reading. This pushes the author to write with a theme that all readers can relate with. The usage of love is a perfect example. It allows readers of all ages to relate on a personal level and become intimate with the novel. Different pieces of literature do this in various ways. In Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, love was used to accelerate and progress the plot of the story. Guitar's love for his race, Hagar's obsession for Milkman, and Milkman's love of his ancestors are ways that Morrison was able to use the theme of love in her novel.
As a child Guitar develops a violent dislike for sugary foods when he is given divinity by a white woman after his father's death in a sawmill accident. This early experience leads Guitar to become a member of the "Seven Days," whose mission is to kill selected white people in the distinct way in which black men were killed. The Seven Days claim that their actions are justified because their reasoning is one greater than anyone could understand: the love of the black race. When Milkman questions this love by suggesting that their retaliation will only increase the general white hostility toward blacks, Guitar asks: "What good is a man's life if he can't choose what to die for?...It is about love. What else but love?" (Song of Solomon pg. 223) By saying this, Guitar is explaining how everything he does is for love, and for the love of his people. He is telling Milkman that what he is doing this for the big picture. He is killing, but he is killing so that the black race can continue without being over-run or destroyed. Guitar loves his race, and to him that is all that matters. (www.angelfire.com)
Even before Milkman finds out about Guitar and his eerie way of love, Milkman's life is threatened by a different, but equally misguided love. At age twelve, Milkman and his cousin, Hagar, get
The main goal for an author is to grab the reader's attention and keep them interested in what they are reading. This pushes the author to write with a theme that all readers can relate with. The usage of love is a perfect example. It allows readers of all ages to relate on a personal level and become intimate with the novel. Different pieces of literature do this in various ways. In Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, love was used to accelerate and progress the plot of the story. Guitar's love for his race, Hagar's obsession for Milkman, and Milkman's love of his ancestors are ways that Morrison was able to use the theme of love in her novel.
As a child Guitar develops a violent dislike for sugary foods when he is given divinity by a white woman after his father's death in a sawmill accident. This early experience leads Guitar to become a member of the "Seven Days," whose mission is to kill selected white people in the distinct way in which black men were killed. The Seven Days claim that their actions are justified because their reasoning is one greater than anyone could understand: the love of the black race. When Milkman questions this love by suggesting that their retaliation will only increase the general white hostility toward blacks, Guitar asks: "What good is a man's life if he can't choose what to die for?...It is about love. What else but love?" (Song of Solomon pg. 223) By saying this, Guitar is explaining how everything he does is for love, and for the love of his people. He is telling Milkman that what he is doing this for the big picture. He is killing, but he is killing so that the black race can continue without being over-run or destroyed. Guitar loves his race, and to him that is all that matters. (www.angelfire.com)
Even before Milkman finds out about Guitar and his eerie way of love, Milkman's life is threatened by a different, but equally misguided love. At age twelve, Milkman and his cousin, Hagar, get