Song of Solomon: Learning to Fly (Toni Morrison Lecture on Chapters I-IV) (Patreon)

'Mr. Smith's blue silk wings must have left their mark, because when the little boy discovered, at four, the same thing Mr. Smith had learned earlier - that only birds and airplanes could fly - he lost all interest in himself.'

Today we are flying through the beginning of Toni Morrison's achingly beautiful novel. We are meeting her characters together, wrangling with complex themes, and immersing ourselves in the vivid world of Song of Solomon.

We're discussing symbolism, fairy tales, family lore, rememory, the power of true names, writing about race vs culture, the metaphor of flight, injustice, death, birth, and much more.

Please do feel free to enjoy the discussion even if you haven't read up to these chapters yet. I'm continuing to be mindful of staying away from spoilers for things that are unravelled later in the narrative.

Timestamps:

0:00 flying through Song of Solomon

2:00 appreciating the first sentence

6:00 flight of Mr Smith from Mercy

9:00 Kafkaesque, gothic, magical realism

11:00 splashes of colour symbolism

14:00 ‘oh Sugarman done fly away’

16:00 flight, freedom, death, euphemism

19:00 the birth of Milkman in Mercy

23:00 Toni Morrison’s ‘rememory’

26:00 life in the Dead household

28:00 Ruth’s flight from reality

30:00 the thread of golden light

33:00 appreciating Rumplestiltskin

35:00 the power of knowing true names

40:00 Morrison on writing about race

45:00 concentrating on things behind us

48:00 Macon Dead vs Dr Foster

52:00 Macon’s relationship with Pilate

55:00 the symbolism of Macon’s keys

58:00 Macon’s relationship with Ruth

1:02:00 ‘Give me hate. No more love’

1:06:00 getting to know Pilate Dead

1:10:00 family lore coming together

1:14:00 beautiful wisdom from Pilate

1:16:00 two words for the same thing

1:18:00 ownership vs self-possession

1:22:00 the backcloth of World War 2

1:25:00 when Milkman smacks his father

1:30:00 ‘I certainly am my daddy’s daughter’

1:32:00 Macon tells Milkman about his mother

1:38:00 ‘you have to deal with the whole truth’

1:42:00 Morrison’s allusions to real murders

1:45:00 Milkman and Hagar’s relationship

1:48:00 extending boyhood into adulthood

1:50:00 your thoughts on Song of Solomon?

Resources to Explore:

• Fairy Tales: Toni Morrison's work is richly allusive and prompts us to lovingly reacquaint ourselves with fairy tales, like Rumplestiltskin and Hansel and Gretel, that helped to shape many of our imaginations growing up. This hardback edition of The Complete Grimms' Fairy Tales, replete with illustrations, is a gorgeous treasure trove. And this narration, designed for lulling listeners to sleep, is also excellent.

• Scripture: In addition to layering her narrative with allusions to fairytales, folklore, and mythology, Morrison also weaves a tapestry with threads of biblical literature from both the Old and New Testament. You may find it rewarding to give the biblical Song of Solomon a read-through and think about how that complements Toni Morrison's novel.

• Literary Criticism: If you're interested in exploring Toni Morrison's literary criticism, then you may find it rewarding to check out her incredibly thought-provoking Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination here.

• Nobel Prize Speech: Whenever you read a writer who has won the Nobel Prize for Literature, it's often a great idea to check out their acceptance speech to understand their thoughts on the craft of literature, life, and the human tradition. Toni Morrison's speech is one of the best and you can listen to it here and read it here.

• Thought Experiment: Morrison dedicates Song of Solomon to her father and prefaces the book with this self-created epigraph: 'The fathers may soar / And the children may know their names.' If you were to write a deeply personal novel at this moment in your life, who would you dedicate it to? And what would your opening inscription be?

Reading Assignment:

Our next discussion will cover from chapter five up to and including chapter nine, which will take us to through to the close of part one of Song of Solomon.

Questions for You:

1) What are your impressions of Song of Solomon thus far? What do you make of Toni Morrison's characters and narrative style?

2) Do you remember losing your childlike sense of wonder? Your belief in the magical and fantastical? How might we recapture that?

3) Toni Morrison said she wanted to carve out a world in her stories that was both culture specific and race-free. Do you think she succeeds in doing that?

4) Where does your name come from? What does it mean?

If this is your first reading of Song of Solomon, I would love to know how the story is meeting your expectations. If this is a reread for you, what is it like returning to the story? And please do share with us your favourite passage from the story so far.

Happy reading, everybody!