The Dead Family

Reading Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon reminded me of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, not because of the content, but because of the language and style. I read Hurston’s novel last year in AP Lang. It was very difficult to read initially because of the stark contrast of language between the spoken dialogue and the description. Song of Solomon is much easier to read, but is similar in its differing use of language between dialogue and the writer’s voice. This change is noticeable through grammatical changes, but also by the use of foul language. The narrator doesn’t curse, however many of characters, especially Milkman, frequently curse. I found this specific word choice interesting because I was unsure what Morrison attempting to say. To me, it appeared to stress the action and thought of the characters over what they are literally saying. Perhaps this was Morrison way of showing that no matter how much the US government said that equality existed, it did not exist in practice.

The other main point that struck me in the reading was the Dead’s family dynamic. (The incest part of Mrs. Dead served, in my eyes, to further the inner relationships, not to make incest a central theme, so I only viewed it in this context.) Family love and relationships are always an important part of any story for me. Without those relationships, characters feel less defined to me. The lack of empathy and love between the family members was surprising, particularly because none of them felt compelled to develop those relationships any further. All of the Deads appeared to have something lacking in their lives, as indicated by Milkman’s need for fulfilment, the mother’s propensity for inappropriate relationships, Mr. Dead’s need to hit his wife, and the sister’s marital status. Almost all of these details show that they are looking for something more, but none of them seek personal relationships as a remedy to this feeling. Their inability to reach out to each other surprised me.

Throughout reading the chapters, I was thinking of the Lee Iacocca quote: “No matter what you’ve done for yourself or for humanity, if you can’t look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished?” I felt that the character’s little emphasis placed on their family helped to contribute, in addition to racism and socioeconomic status, to their unfulfilling position, a fact alluded to by their family name.