LITR 5731 Seminar in
Multicultural Literature: American Minority

sample student midterm Spring 2010

web review, essay, research plan
 

Tanya Stanley

March 3, 2010

Web Review

Flight and Transformation within Song of Solomon

            Does the African have the ability to ascend to a new place in life or does he descend to his death to overcome his own oppressions? Does the ability to fly provide the African with supernatural qualities or provide them with a false outlet to escape torment?  Elements of the African flying myth appear throughout Toni Morrison’s novel Song of Solomon, and some students appear hesitant of the reality of the flights the characters appear to take. For example, Leah Guillory says she does not “believe Milkman can actually fly—although, in the case of “The Flying Africans,” the possibility may exist” (Guillory Fall 2007 Midterm). The romantic element of an individual taking flight though his own power elevates Milkman to a superhuman character. If Milkman flies, he becomes like his aunt Pilate whose lack of a navel separates her from normal societal life; neither of them will be accepted by society because of the fear associated with them through their supernatural qualities. The flight of Milkman becomes a mystical quality that dehumanizes him, which can aid him in his journey while hindering his acceptance within society. Based on the African flying myth Milkman can fly and we can see him take flight at the end of the novel, or we can see him merely leap into the air as he lunges towards Guitar and possibly towards his own death. Leah’s suggestion questions the reality of Milkman’s flight while Gordon Lewis affirms it.

            Gordon introduces historical background of the African flying myth, and he suggests the creation of the African flying myth occurred in 1803. Gordon introduces Timothy B. Powell who describes a rebellion of Igbo slaves aboard a ship: “After reaching landfall, the chained slaves committed suicide by walking into the Georgia swamp, and this disappearance of the slaves evolved into a tale that they had flown back to Africa (Powell 1)” (Lewis Fall 2007 Midterm). Even though the flight takes a different approach as compared to Milkman’s flight at the end of the novel, a romantic quality remains. The imagery of the slaves chained together in their descent evokes the image of birds flying in formation. Although the birds’ chain is an invisible one, they are nonetheless connected during their flight. Gordon describes the beginning of Song of Solomon as an introduction of the theme of flying within the novel, but he seems to understate the mystical concept of flying when he states Robert Smith leaves a suicide note instead of just saying Smith left a note: “I will take off . . . and fly away on my own wings.” Gordon does not think Robert Smith’s flight is a flight at all; however, unlike Leah, he does believe Milkman experiences an actual flight. “[At] the end of the novel Milkman leaps because he has learned that, “If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it” (337).” Gordon appears to read Smith’s flight as suicide and Milkman’s flight as an ascent of mystery. The reality of the characters’ flights are undecided by the readers, but Leah and Gordon’s submissions elicit a romantic quality within the flights.

            Like the African flying myth, the romantic qualities of transformation seem quite interesting. I agree with Martin D. Briones assertion of “Milkman and his character transformation,” but I think Milkman’s transformation is less apparent than Pilate’s actually metamorphosis that appears at the end of the novel. Throughout the novel, elements of Christianity weave themselves within the pages. Through the perception of the dominant culture, Milkman becomes an angel as he leaps towards the murderer of his aunt. The mystical concept of having angels among us is prevalent in the novel through the character of Pilate who appears as a descendant from Adam and Eve through her own birthing and her lack of a navel. Even though none of the characters reveal a connection among Pilate, Adam, and Eve, the transformation from the spiritual to the natural—a reversal of the biblical text—occurs when Pilate dies. In first Corinthians chapter fifteen verse forty-six, “the spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual” (New International Version). For Pilate the spiritual body comes first—the body that resembles the bodies of Adam and Eve—which is followed by the natural body—the body that succumbs to the plight of her world, a gunshot. Milkman does transform but he does so in the natural world as a maturing young man. By reviewing the model assignments, the African flying myth and the concept of transformation share romantic and mystical qualities within the texts. I am beginning to see aspects of the African flying myth and of transformation within Black Elk Speaks while anticipating finding links within our future texts, which has led to my research plan.

 

Research Plan

Fighting through Flight: An Exaggeration for Minorities [working title]

            Several of the texts we have discussed mention the act of flying as a source of escape and liberation for the enslaved, but I see the flying as a transformation—much more than a flight. Those who participate in the flight take the leap to fight the oppression of society and during that flight they become mystical figures in the representations within the literature and within the culture. As they become mystical, they become dehumanized and their story takes on a fictional undertone. At first glance, the African flying myth seems romantic and uplifting to the minority status; however, the dehumanization caused by the myth continues to drive the minority into a state below the dominant culture, below the immigrant, and below the model minority.

            I do not want to limit the research to the African flying myth as specific only to slaves returning to Africa, because this limits the scope of the myth and does not wholly apply to the mythical aspects of flying away and of transformation or to other minority texts. The African flying myth appears to be an embellished successful suicide—another romantic technique attempting to take away the humanization of the minority. Gordon Lewis of the fall 2007 American Multicultural Literature course presents the reader with a possible building block through the research of the African flying myth by introducing Timothy B. Powell and his online article “Ebos Landing.” Authorship of the African flying myths ranges from a white overseer to the oral tradition of the Africans, so like the creation stories of the Native Americans, I may find transformations within the representations themselves. Several possibilities exist on what aspects to research, but the emphasis remains dedicated to the extension of that concept—the extension within the culture, its history, and its literature.

 

Essay

            Literacy continues to provide empowerment while illiteracy continues to hinder. Literacy has fused itself into subcategories such as computer literacy, mechanical literacy, and visual literacy in the modern world, so even with the ability to read and write many people remain enslaved. Objective five subcategory c—to regard literacy as the primary code of modern existence and a key or path to empowerment—creates an intertextuality among Martin Luther King’s “Dream Speech,” Frederick Douglass’ The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Toni Morrison’s novel Song of Solomon, and Jupiter Hammon’s poem “An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ, With Penitential Cries.”

            Martin Luther King declares “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must ever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline” (“Dream Speech”). King demands that the African Americans must overcome a past filled with bitterness and hatred and begin to use a dignified source of empowerment, which suggests the use of literacy for their purpose of freedom. Literacy has the power to provide several levels of awareness and freedom. With literacy and empowerment come authority and ability to declare the outcomes that will affect the entire African American community. King’s desire for the African American community to have such power is evident in his ability to articulate these necessities to the dominant culture and to the African Americans. King continues his speech declaring “we must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force” (“Dream Speech”).

            King is aware of the dominant culture’s perception of the African American community as a race beneath them, and he strongly advocates for freedom of persecution through soul force. King’s rhetorical technique creates an image of what African Americans need to accomplish in order to access their freedom promised to them; the community needs to use literacy to gain the power to live the American dream and not the American nightmare. The need for creative works of art by African Americans expressing their oppression, their salvation, and their continued search for absolute freedom is vital for the attainment of the experiences by new generations and those within the dominant culture.  Literacy is vital for the attainment of freedom of the African Americans, which suggests literacy as the primary code of modern existence and a key or path to empowerment. The ability to read and write needs to be applied to the texts of the minority’s culture so the voices can be heard.

            In a letter from William Lloyd Garrison, Garrison describes the unforgettable experience of hearing Frederick Douglass’ speech and “the extraordinary emotion it excited…the powerful impression it created upon a crowded auditory, completely taken by surprise…[in which he] never hated slavery so intensely as at that moment” (Douglass). The ability for the minority to make a connection with the dominant culture and create such a response to the art he creates is an empowering device. Like Martin Luther King, Frederick Douglass realizes the importance of literacy in the escape of his oppressors. In chapter six, Douglass reveals the unlawfulness of teaching a slave to read and that literacy “was a new and special revelation, explaining dark and mysterious things…the white man’s power to enslave the black man” (Douglass). The significance of literacy and education to the slave parallels with the significance of soul force for the African American community in King’s time; the ability to change the way people view slavery and persecution can ultimately lead to the ability to withdraw the ways of the present oppressors. Douglass’ realization places him on the path to empowerment as an individual and provides a catalyst for abolitionists to continue pursuing their fight to free the slaves. Douglass gains access to several facets not offered to the uneducated and illiterate, but he does not triumph over the oppression without continued persecution.

            Literacy as the primary code of modern existence and a key or path to empowerment extends from the life of Frederick Douglass and the African American community of Martin Luther King’s time to the characters in Toni Morrison’s novel Song of Solomon. Macon Dead, the grandfather of Milkman, does not escape the persecution of his oppressors because he does not have the empowerment that literacy provides his son and grandson. Macon Dead “couldn’t read, couldn’t even sign his name. Had a mark he used. They tricked him” (Morrison 62). Macon Dead’s son lived through the wretchedness of his father giving his land away to the oppressors because he could not read or write. The oppressors took advantage of Macon Dead’s inabilities, and his son declares to his own son “everything bad that ever happened to him happened because he couldn’t read” (Morrison 62). With literacy, Macon Dead may have kept his farm from falling into the hands of his oppressors. Basic literacy was needed for Macon Dead to maintain his independence and continue his success.

            Jupiter Hammon, “the first African American to be published in the United States” reinforces the importance of literacy as the primary code of modern existence and a key or path to empowerment with his poem “An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ, With Penitential Cries.” Hammon describes the literacy of religion, which sinners cry for salvation: “It is firmly fixt his holy Word, / Ye shall not cry in vain.” (Hammon). Salvation will arrive for the African American community without fail because it is fixed in the Lord’s word. Hammon capitalizes “Word” in the stanza, which emphasizes the importance of literacy within religion through the word of God. Hammon continues his rhyme scheme rhyming “Lord” with “Word” and by doing so he accentuates the magnitude of the Word of God with the words of the African American community. Intertextuality occurs underneath the surface of Hammon’s poem with King’s speech, which emphasizes the importance of literacy among the African American community and beyond its borders. Hammon’s poetry will enter the homes of the oppressors and continue to focus the redemption of the community through the eyes of the supposed sinner and God. By writing a poem with religion on the surface, Hammon is able to express the pains of the persecuted African American community and present than pain and a need for salvation into the homes of the dominant culture.

            To regard literacy as the primary code of modern existence and a key or path to empowerment means to reclaim the authority to autonomy of the self and attain the salvation of a community.  The American dream focuses attention to the individual and the power that individual has in claiming his right to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” (“Declaration of Independence”), but the “Dream Speech” of Martin Luther King declares “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds”” (“Dream Speech”). However small the significance is, the fact that the African Americans have obtained literacy and are able to read that the check is marked “insufficient funds” is the result of no small feat. Through the strong willed pursuers of freedom such as Martin Luther King, Frederick Douglass, Macon Dead—the father of Milkman—and Jupiter Hammon literacy becomes a way of life, a way to a better life, a way to a life worth fighting for, a way to a life worth living. Illiteracy may not seem as detrimental to the African American community as the violence the slaves suffered from the overseers, but without the power to read and write, a possible America with slavery as a guiding institution may still exist. Literacy is vital today but the ability to think critically about your circumstances and the future outcomes of those circumstances is needed to maintain autonomy and self success. Literacy extends from the basic abilities to read and write to computer literacy, mechanical literacy, and visual literacy. Other forms of literacy are necessary to make educated decisions in politics, education, and economics, which will empower the self and possibly the community.