Samuel Mathis

12 March 2010

The Presence of Song in Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon

            As we read the literature of African American minorities, I noticed that all of the pieces we read contained some comment of form of song in the narrative.  It was not until we reached Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon that music became a pivotal part of the African American culture and narrative.  I already knew that music was important to the African American minority, and this importance lead to the creation of America’s best blues and jazz musicians.  However, I did not know why music was so important to Morrison’s novel.  I decided that because I did not know why music was important in Song of Solomon, I would look into what scholars have said about the musical appearance and traits of the novel.  This became my topic of research and exploration as I worked to fulfill the requirements of the research post.  My research led me to four articles dealing with the musical qualities of Song of Solomon.  One of my sources dealt with the Biblical Song of Solomon, while the other three dealt with music, African American culture, and how Morrison combines the two in her novel. 

Vikki Visvis argues in her article, “Alternatives to the “Talking cure”: Black Music as Traumatic Testimony in Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon,” that Morrison’s characters use music as a means of identifying and dealing with traumatic experiences they encounter.  Visvis argues that African American’s “developed their own form of psychotherapy, namely, the blues”, and Morrison uses this music in her novel to help bridge the gap between the auditory African American music and visual novel she had written (255).  She continued to show the connection between blues music in general and Morrison’s song that Pilate sings about “Sugarman.”  Both songs express loss and carry a rhythm that the novel itself mimics in its ebb and flow style of action.  By singing and learning to sing, Morrison’s characters deal with the problems of life that they have faced.  Pilate’s singing at the funeral of Hagar along with Milkman’s song at the death of Pilate both exemplify how music allowed them to express their grief and find comfort.  It was through song that Pilate found peace in this world, and Milkman found out his family heritage through the song of children.  Visvis argues that the blues music of Song of Solomon is a powerful part of Morrison’s narrative.

In contrast with Vikki Visvis’s view on Morrison’s blues music, Anthony J. Berret’s article, “Toni Morrison’s Literary Jazz” asserts that Jazz music plays a predominant role in the novel.  In his essay, Berret recounts an interview with Morrison where she desires her novels to function in the same way that music does in the African American community.  He continues by arguing that Morrison mimics jazz music in her novels more than blues.  While he does concede the fact that Song of Solomon has some blues aspects, he maintains that it resembles Jazz more.  His argument is that Jazz allows the musicians or characters in relation to the novel to “preserve their individual wholeness and group identity” at the same time (Berret 282).  Jazz music allows for more free speech and casual intimacy which is what Morrison creates with her complex yet simply understood characters.  By creating a novel that resembles and incorporates music into itself, Morrison is creating a novel that is “something more than music to help them [African Americans] define their roles and save what it essential to their past” (Berret 267).  Through the use of song, the characters in Morrison’s novel, and by extension her readers, find themselves and establish their individuality.

Through reading these articles and learning of what Toni Morrison’s purpose in incorporating these songs and musical qualities in her novels, I have come to understand that the music creates a connection with Morrison’s reader in a way that nothing else can.  From the very beginning of our readings, music has played an important role in the African American community understanding and asserting itself in the dominant white culture.  However, as this minority has gained more recognition and authority in the world, their mode of communication and assertion has had to change.  Not wanting to lose the value that comes from music, Morrison incorporates it into her novels in order to merge the dominant white cultural use of novel writing with the African American minority use of song.  By merging the two together, Morrison was able to create a work that connects the two cultures together while still expressing herself in an unique way.  Just as the jazz musician can play a solo in the overall concert of various instruments, Morrison’s novel is a solo of narrative skill that expresses itself beautifully.  This has created a curiosity in me about what importance Native American song may have to their culture and if it is used to help bridge the gap between the dominant white culture and themselves.