Essay on Dysfunctional Families in Song of Solomon -- Song Solomon ess

Dysfunctional Families in call of Solomon The African American families in Toni Morrisons Song of Solomon present abnormality and dysfunction. Normalcy, run inton in common nuclear families, is absent. The protagonist, Milkman, is shaped by his dysfunctional relationships with parental figures. The abnormality of the mother and child relationship is homely in Song of Solomon. The mother figure seems to have misguided hopes. Toni Morrison, presents an theatrical role of an unnatural, extended time of maternal bonding. The character, Ruth, breastfeeds her son, Milkman, until he is four or tail fin years of age. Ruth breastfeeds Milkman for this unnaturally lengthy amount of time because it makes her aroma like her son is a part of her. Breastfeeding him gives her immense pleasure and satisfaction. However, she hides her tomfoolery from the rest of the family until Freddie the janitor catches her. She knows it is wrong, but it makes her daily spirit bearable. The children display a easygoing amount of disrespect leading to severe denial of motherly compassion. We see this in a passage from Song of Solomon. He had never love his mother, but had al musical modes known that she loved him. And that had always seemed right to him, the way it should be. Her confirmed, eternal love of him, love that he didnt even have to net or deserve, seemed to him natural(79). Milkman has a peculiar view of his mother. He did not call up of his mother as a person, a separate individual, with a life apart from allowing or interfering with his own(75). Milkman does not think of his mother as an individual who needs his love or as a woman. To him it her traffic in life to love him. He sees her as a sapless creature that needs protection f... ...is son has struck him. Yet, he feels disdain in his son for standing up to him. Song of Solomon, joined by the dysfunction in the families, present an insightful image of the individual and the family of African Americans . Milkman, gained strength and courage through the trials of abnormal, sometimes abusive upbringings. Each scar, whether it was rational or physical, was a lesson learned. Works Cited Byerman, Keith. Songs of the Ancestors Family in Song of Solomon. Approaches to Teaching the Novels of Toni Morrison. Ed. Nellie McKay. overbold York MLA, 1997. Middleton, David. Toni Morrisons Fiction Contemporary Criticism. New York Garland, 1997. Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New York The Penguin Group, 1977. Storhoff, Gary. Anaconda Love Parental Enmeshment in Toni Morrisons Song of Solomon. Style 31.2 (1997) 290-309.