For chapters 11-13, you’ll be following many
of the same themes. For each of
these 3 chapters, please choose 2 of the
following to answer in a post AND use
at least 2 quotations PER question in your response. Some of these questions are more
appropriate for some chapters above others, so read and choose carefully.
Try to comment under what someone else has posted whenever possible!
1)
To what extent do you see Milkman developing
as an individual, finding himself, discovering his moral center? (Are there places where he still
doesn’t “get it”?) Where and why?
Do you sympathize more with him as a character now? Why or why not? How does Morrison suggest that one
finds oneself? What are the
critical components of this journey?
2)
Keep track of Milkman’s discoveries and
realizations about his family’s past.
What are the significant people, moments, myths, stories, songs, that
are associated with his family?
Why, according to Morrison, is it important to recover one’s family
roots? How can your past teach you
about who you are? What do you
think is Morrison’s point or points by including all this stuff about family
history/mythology? Why is a
critical part of this history told through a children’s song?
3)
Milkman’s relationships with others—Continue
to track his developing relationship with Guitar, Hagar, and Pilate. Mark any significant moments in the
story lines of Guitar, Hagar, and Pilate and explain why they are important,
strange, or confusing.
4)
Continue to take note of developments of the
major themes, including Naming—especially the new names we meet, Byrd, Solomon,
Ryna, and Sing—and Flying.
5)
Why did Morrison title the book Song of
Solomon? Try to think of this
literally and metaphorically.
6)
How can we read ideas like “hunger” and the
quest for “gold” metaphorically?
Think back to the Hansel and Gretel story—how is Milkman’s journey (what
he wants, what he finds, what he comes to value) different than the fairytale.
7)
There are some really “weird” events and
ideas in these chapters. Pay
attention to them! The most
interesting and important thing you can do with this book is to write about
what you think seems odd or confusing or intriguing. Write this down and explain why. If possible, ask questions of your classmates!
3/1. I'm not sure whether this really falls under number three or number one, because while Milkman thinks back to his relationships with those back home a lot during this chapter, its really more about Milkman reassessing himself and his own morals. When he is standing watching the children playing and singing the "Solomon don't leave me here" song, he thinks about Pilate, Ruth, Macon, his sisters, and Hagar. He has long been disgusted with both his mother and his father, but actually puts himself in their shoes and begins to understand them. When thinking about his mother, he says that "now it seemed to him that such sexual deprivation would affect her, hurt her in precisely the way it would affect and hurt him" (300). He realizes that his father's greed was all "a measure of his loss at his father's death" (300). He considers how easily he had stollen from Pilate, a woman he loves and "the skim of shame that he had rinsed away in the bathwater"(300) returns. A huge turning point for him comes when he actually realizes that "he had used her [Hagar]- her love, her craziness- and most of all he had used her sulking, bitter vengeance" (301). Milkman recognizes that, not only was he a complete jerk for breaking up with Hagar in the way that he did, but also that he has taken advantage of her pain and suffering. I think this moment is huge for Milkman. He is considering the feelings of others and feels remorse for mistreating them. This journey he is taking away from home has helped him discover more about himself and allowed him to self reflect. I surely sympathize more with Milkman as a person after this moment.
ReplyDelete2.The discoveries Milkman is making about him family are a bit confusing in this chapter, as many new relatives and family connections are introduced. We discover that the Solomon song is "a story about his [Milkman's] own people" (304), and that he is related to Solomon, Jake Ryna, Heddy, Byrd, and Susan. What I think is important is Milkman's development as he learns more about his history. Milkman admits that "ever since Danville, his interest in his own people, not just the ones he met, had been growing" (293). Discovering more about his family history has excited Milkman and helped him feel more connected. He is beginning to feel as though he belongs and feeling more and more connected to people he meets. Milkman also gets extremely excited once he figures out his connection to the children's song, and "he was grinning. His eyes were shining. He was as eager and as happy as he had ever been in his life" (304). I think through this, Morrison is suggesting that one's history and roots are important in one's identity, and that leaning more about your people and past can help you find yourself.
Oops this was supposed to be for chapter 12...I'll re-post it there
DeleteWow, great answers!
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Delete3. Hagar's feelings towered Milkman change in this chapter. She goes from spending all of herself on "loving" him to understanding that he doesn't and will not love her again. This causes her to die. Earlier in the book, Hagar was described as a "restless ghost" (127). When I first read that, I thought of someone with unfinished business, someone who wouldn't be able to leave the world of the living until they found peace. Now that Hagar finally understands that "He's never going to like [her] hair" (316), her soul is free to move on, and it does.
ReplyDelete7. I thought it was interesting and a bit unusual that at the beginning of this chapter, Guitar seemed very intent on helping Hagar. Throughout most of the book, Guitar doesn't seem to have any sort of relationship with Hagar. Except for the two times she comes up in conversations between him and Milkman, Guitar has nothing to do with her. Even those times, Guitar doesn't seem to really care about her. Now, however, he gives her a long pep talk ("He can't value you more than you value yourself" (306).)
3) I think this chapter about Hagar is a way for Morrison to show how destructive the "anaconda love" is that many of the characters in the book have for Milkman and also to condemn women who are entirely reliant on men and need them to live. Milkman doesn't love Hagar and because she relies on him so much she feels like that if he doesn't love her then she has something wrong with her. Guitar says that "You think that because he doesn't love you that you are worthless." (305) Her world is so centered on Milkman's opinion that what he thinks is the end all for her. She had lived her by ignoring the fact that the relationship was over and pretending that there was still hope for them to get back together, and like the shopping spree/thunderstorm scene shows she was trying to cover up the truth but when the rain washed it away the truth was revealed to her and "in their eyes she saw what she had not seen before in the mirror: the wet ripped hose, the soiled white dress, the sticky, lump face powder...until the fever came and then it stopped." (314) Hagar had been living in a fantasy world and once she realized the truth that she would never get Milkman back it was too much for her to handle and it made her sick and she died.
ReplyDelete7) Something that I didn't really get in this chapter is what the point of Guitar comforting Hagar and taking care of her. recently there has been stuff that makes us think that Guitar is an emotionless killer, but here we see that he "could not keep the deep wave of sorrow from engulfing him." (305) It seems like it might be an attempt to make us sympathize with Guitar more, but it is a weird spot to do that as we have just read chapters about Guitar trying to kill Milkman with wrong reasoning along with killing innocent white people and we have also just been given reasons to think that Milkman is becoming a better person, so I don't know why Morrison would want us to sympathize with someone who is seeming more and more like a bad guy.
If you were in class Friday, you know that you DON'T HAVE TO POST ON CH. 13 IF YOU DON'T WANT TO! I'm happy to read those of you who do want to complete an extra post though!
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