Toni Morrison on Song of Solomon

Here is an interesting interview with Toni Morrison on Song of Solomon.

Towards the end of the video she mentions why she wanted Milkman to be obsessed with escaping and flying, and that was what I found most interesting because she tells us why she wanted to write the story in the first place. 

One thing I love about listening to interviews with authors is that you get to understand why they wrote what they did, and what they were thinking when they wrote it. You find out why it is significant to them and their lives. Sometimes I feel like we over analyze things in English classes, and I often find myself wondering what the author really was thinking and whether or not we interpret it completely differently.

That's the cool thing about any creative art form--everyone has their own interpretations based on how they connect to the book and sometimes these interpretations differ from the author's. That doesn't mean that we're wrong, but I do like getting to know the author's perspective on their work. (Too bad Shakespeare is dead because I would have had loads of questions for him about his plays.)

Make me a bird

Milkman's desire to fly away reminded me of Jenny in "Forrest Gump," only Milkman's motivations are quite different from Jenny's. 

The one thing that Milkman ever was obsessed with was flight. From an early age, he loved anything that could fly and always wanted to fly. This has an important impact on his development as a child because once he realizes that he cannot fly, he loses all interest in himself.

It's this loss of an interest in himself and an imagination that creates the unambitious and lazy Milkman in the next few chapters of the novel. Milkman is only looking out for his own safety, and he never really grows up because he isn't looking at himself critically on an introspective level. Milkman doesn't change because he doesn't think the change is necessary because he doesn't realize that a problem exists in the first place. He doesn't see the problem because he still has no interest in himself and refuses to examine his character. 

Deep down, all Milkman wants to do is escape. He wants to fly away and create a life different than that of the people back home. He hates the thought of becoming more like his father. Flight is the potential of the future, the great unknown--like the horizon beyond the hood ornament of the winged woman. Milkman wants to conquer this unkown future, but he doesn't want to give up his comfort at home. This leaves him stuck.  

This urge to escape is also a sign of immaturity on Milkman's part. He would rather run from problems than confront them, and he can get away with this because he is rich enough to afford a plane ticket. For example, when asked what he would do if he lived in Alabama amidst the rampant racism, Milkman responds that he would grab a plane ticket and fly away as quickly as he could. He doesn't think about solving some of his family issues, or trying to mend things with his friends, but instead takes a plane far away on a selfish quest for gold.

The ironic thing is that the more Milkman tries to fly away, the more he is reminded of and brought back to his family. He flies away to Pennsylvania and meets all of these people who tell him stories of his family. Also, Milkman is basically still carrying out his father's orders to find the gold, so he hasn't yet escaped his father's influence.

Milkman can't fly away, because it's like Guitar said "Wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down." Milkman hasn't given up the things weighing him down. The things weighing him down, are his own ideas on privilege. He can't move forward in life because he is still stuck in the world where he has enough money to do whatever he wants. Milkman hasn't realized that there is more to life than money and personal safety and security. 

Perhaps Milkman will finally mature in the last few chapters of the novel. I'm excited to see how his character will (or won't) grow by the end of the novel. I have a theory though, that the song

Sugarman done fly, Sugarman done gone

Sugarman cut across the sky, Sugarman gone

will have something to do with Milkman and the ending of the book. 

Creative Project: Antoinette's Insanity

For my creative project this semester I decided to use photography to illustrate Antoinette's experiences in her attic prison. I chose to have an all dark background, with minimal colors in the actual pictures, to accentuate the dramatic scenes and thoughts that Antoinette experiences. The body language and facial expressions in the photos are the main focus. Another reason for the black background is because of Grace Poole's quote that calls Antoinette "that girl who lives in her own darkness." 

I decided to put the photos where Antoinette explores outside of the attic in black and white because to the outside world Antoinette is only a forgotten ghost. 

These photos were all inspired by actual quotes in the novel. 

(Thanks to Allie Hartman for being such a patient and amazing model, and thanks to my sister and my mother for helping me arrange the lights and the props.)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"But above all the thick walls, keeping away all the things that you have fought till you can fight no more. Yes, maybe that's why we all stayed -- Mrs Eff and Leah and me. All of us except that girl who lives in her own darkness." (Rhys 178)

"I'll say one thing for her, she hasn't lost her spirit. She's still fierce. I don't turn my back on her when her eyes have that look. I know it." (Rhys 178)

"In the end flames shoot up and they are beautiful. I get out of bed to watch them and to wonder why I have been brought here. For what reason? There must be a reason. What is it I must do?" (Rhys 179)

"So there is still the sound of whispering that I have heard all my life, but these are different voices." (Rhys 180)

"When she is snoring I get up and I have tasted the drink without colour in the bottle. The first time I did this I wanted to spit it out but I managed to swallow it. When I got back into bed I could remember more and think again. I was not so cold." (Rhys 179)

"There is no looking-glass here. and I don't know what I am like now. I remember watching myself brush my hair and how my eyes looked back at me. The girl I saw was myself yet not quite myself. Long ago when I was a child and very lonely I tried to kiss her. But the glass was between us -- hard, cold, and misted over with my breath. Now they have taken everything away. What am I doing in this place and who am I?" (Rhys 180)

(This is one of my favorite shots, aside from the abysmal photoshop editing, because I love the way it shows the current Antoinette remembering her past Antoinette through a mirror. The image of the looking glass pops up several times throughout the novel, so I was even more excited to try out mirror photography.)

"Then I open the door and walk into their world. It is, as I always knew, made of cardboard. I have seen it before somewhere, this cardboard world where everything is colored brown or dark red or yellow that has no light in it. As I walk along the passages I wish I could see what is behind the cardboard." (Rhys 181) 

"She met another girl and the second girl said, 'Have you seen a ghost?' -- 'I didn't see anything but I thought I felt something.' -- 'That is the ghost,' the second one said and they went down the stairs together." (Rhys 182)

 (For this photo I did everything I could to make Antoinette look as much like a ghost as possible.)

"I took the red dress down and put it against myself. 'Does it make me look intemperate and unchaste?' I said. [...] But I held the dress in my hand wondering if they had done the last and worst thing. If they had changed it when I wasn't looking. If they had changed it and it wasn't my dress at all -- but how could they get the scent?" (Rhys 186)

"Time has no meaning. But something you can hold like my red dress, that has meaning [...] The scent that came from the dress was very faint at first, then it grew stronger. The smell of vetivert and frangipanni, of cinnamon and dust and lime trees when they are flowering. The smell of sun and the smell of rain." (Rhys 185)

"I let the dress fall to the floor [...] I looked at the dress on the floor and it was as if the fire had spread across the room. It was beautiful and it reminded me of something I must do. I will remember I thought. I will remember quite soon now." (Rhys 186-187)

"I wished to see it clearly so I lit all the candles, and there were many. I lit them carefully from the one I was carrying but I couldn't reach up to the chandelier. I looked round for the altar for with so many candles and so much red, the room reminded me of a church." (Rhys 188)

(The quote here is taken from Antoinette's nightmare, so I tried to make the photo dream like. Here, she is sleeping among many candles, seemingly floating in mid air. )

"I waited a long time after I heard her snore, then I got up, took the keys, and unlocked the door." (Rhys 190)

"I was outside holding my candle. Now at last I know why I was brought here and what I have to do." (Rhys 189)

"There must have been a draught for the flame flickered and I thought it was out. But I shielded it with my hand and it burned up again to light me along the dark passage." (Rhys 189)