The literary criticism is available in the SOS section of the course.
Selecting one of the longer literary criticism articles and develop a strong thesis which addresses the key areas discussed in the article, including quotes from the criticism. DO NOT SELECT A SHORT LITERARY CRITICISM. 250-300 words.
The literary criticism is available in the SOS section of the course.
23 Comments
stephen
5/1/2014 08:16:34 am
In Gary Storhoff’s “Andaconda Love”, the concept of a detrimental type of love is considered. According to Storhoff, relation enmeshment displayed itself throughout the novel: Parental enmeshment seen between Macon and Milkman, and with Pilate and Hagar (the two accomplished in very different ways), as well as complete romantic/obsessive enmeshment by Hagar unto Milkman. “If the critical focus shifts emphasis from the intrapsychic to the interpersonal or social dynamic, we discover that Song of Solomon is a portrait of enmeshment - the suffocating bond parents occasionally create with their children that Morrison calls "anaconda love"”. Storhoff goes on to explain that both the household of Macon and the household of Pilate were dysfunctional, as both parental figures attempted to “fuse with their offspring to satisfy their own emotional cravings”. Macon’s household is one characterized by violence, as seen by his “wife-beating and his abuse of his children”. Macon’s rule affects the way Milkman matures, being suffocated by Macons presence. Because of the pressure put upon him by his father (for a variety of things) Milkman develops an apathetic, somewhat unsocial lifestyle. While Macon represented the over-controlling anaconda love, Pilate represents the other side of the spectrum, the “all-consuming mother love”, that has ensured Hagar has had everything she’s wanted, but hampered her social abilities as well. Both Milkman and Hagars parental enmeshment have made them “self-centered, controlling, and unable to discover an authentic self.” While Milkman eventually finds himself on his quest, Hagar, who has been shattered by being tossed aside by Milkman, struggles, as she had lost everything in pursuit of Milkman. “She loved nothing in the world except [Milkman], wanted him alive more than anybody, but hadn’t the least bit of control over the predator that lived inside her. Totally taken over by her anaconda love, she had no self left, no fears, no wants, no intelligence that was her own” (136-7). Being given everything by Pilate in her life, she is unable to cope with this Milkman’s rejection, and eventually succumbs to her grief.
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Trey C.
5/1/2014 06:19:49 pm
Lee, Catherine Carr: "The South in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon: Initiation, healing, and home." Studies in the Literary Imagination.1998.Print.
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Bethany Balentine
5/3/2014 09:30:34 pm
In Naomi's Van Tol's "The Fathers May Soar Folklore and Blues in Song Of Solomon" Van Tol explains Morrison's main points given throughout the novel, the first being the theme of "keeping the spirit alive". The flying myth is one of the main themes within the novel, explaining "African modes of storytelling which provide a way of bringing gaps between the Black community's folk roots, and the Black American literary tradition" (Wilentz 61). Within the novel, Morrison has been accused of using cultural exclusivism by only mentioning the African Americans, and not whites. Morrison states "Insensitive white people cannot deal with black writing, but then they cannot deal with their own literature either" (Tate 160). The second theme presented is the Slavery and African American Culture theme. "A culture's strength is not determined by its static rigidity but rather by its ability to react creatively and responsively to the realities of a new situation"(Levine) Van Tol states that the blending of the European and African cultures resulted in a style that made the slaves develop their own expressive culture at their time of emancipation. The next theme illustrates Blues as the way they expressed their hard luck and trouble. Blues was the more highly personalized genre of African American music. Blues music was demonstrated in Song Of Solomon as well. Pilate's "sugarman" blues song was the most obvious indication of her intention to sing the in writing. Another theme is the loss of ones identity. Milkman, being misunderstood from a young age brought this theme into Song of Solomon. "Milkman's inability to fly is exacerbated by another perceived handicap. Living in the large shadow of his abusive and acquisitive father, Milkman grows up with a secret and shameful flaw." (Van Tol). The naming aspect in Song of Solomon was a big theme. Morrison states "I used the Biblical names to show the impact of the Bible on the lives of Black people, their awe of and respect for it coupled with their ability to distort it for their own purposes." (LeClair 126). The "Twisted Love" theme can be represented with almost all of the characters in the novel. Since the characters are unable to recognize and accept their personal and cultural identities, they cannot love one another. Milkman and Hagar or Ruth and Macon are two good examples of the unsuccessful love within the novel. "Milkman's life is threatened by a different but equally misguided love. At age twelve, Milkman is smitten with his beautiful cousin Hagar, and their relationship later deepens into one of sexual love. For Hagar, this passion fills a deep emotional vacuum, providing a substitute for the stability that her mother and grandmother have never been able to provide" (Van Tol) Lastly, the journey theme was represented. Milkman takes a journey for selfish reasons at first, but once he begins to hear of stories of his family, he becomes proud and has more of a sense of identity. "Milkman spends the night with a local woman, appropriately named Sweet. Unlike Milkman's many previous sexual encounters, his lovemaking with Sweet is unselfish and mutually fulfilling." (Van Tol) Once this happens, you know that Milkman has a sense of identity and can love in the proper way.
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Yahaira S.
5/4/2014 03:03:28 am
Lee, Catherine Carr: "The South in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon: Initiation, healing, and home." Studies in the Literary Imagination.1998.Print.
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daniel C.
5/4/2014 04:23:05 am
"Every Goodbye Ain't Gone": The Semiotics of Death, Mourning, and Closural Practice in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon
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Georgie P
5/5/2014 12:02:54 am
Barbara Hill Rigney, The Voices of Toni Morrison, Ohio State University Press: Columbus, 1991.
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Hope
5/5/2014 01:51:22 am
Lee, Catherine Carr: "The South in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon: Initiation, healing, and home." Studies in the Literary Imagination.1998.Print.
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Ryan M
5/5/2014 05:39:31 am
In Lee's article, Lee starts off stating that Milkman's cultural past continues to create his “present in ways that are not constraining but liberating.” As Milkman experiences “spiritual” poverty, he starts to head down south in finding the gold and having material success. This search of gold however turns into a quest for his family's history. After a while in the south, Milkman's relationship with Pilate becomes significant because it is when he starts to become interested in where he came from. It makes him feel like his “name is important.” This is also where Guitar gets examined in the story. Guitar at first is a bad influence here by telling him, he is unable to risk himself and he is boring. When Milkman decides not to steal from the girl he has a crush on, Lee states, “For Milkman to fly, to transcend his alienation, he has to shed his inauthenticity.” Milkman couldn't fly until he realized the truth of his selfishness in which he had in his life for before then.
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Alyssa
5/5/2014 06:33:01 am
Lee, Catherine Carr: "The South in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon: Initiation, healing, and home." Studies in the Literary Imagination. 1998. Print.
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rachel
5/6/2014 07:22:03 am
“Anaconda Love” by Gary Storhoff illustrates the reasons why both Ruth and Macon in “The Song of Solomon”, use Milkman as their emotional support systems and the consequences that come with this unfavourable method of parenting. Criticism is not exclusively placed on the parenting style of Macon Dead and Ruth, Storhoff believes Morrison shows two different avenues of enmeshment by making Pilate’s family dysfunctional as well. Storhoff uses the term “enmeshment” to explain the conduct of the adults in the novel towards their children; claiming that “both sets of parents [in the Pilate and Macon Dead household] seek to fuse with their offspring to satisfy their own emotional cravings”. Upon analysis of childhood experiences shared by Macon and Pilate, Storhoff believes that “their emotional craving” centers around the desire to recreate their family of origin, that prospered at Lincoln’s Heaven while their dad was still alive. As Macon says, it was “nice” (53), and he intended to recover the land that his father lost. The trauma of losing the farm and Jake’s murder seem to be the origin of his desire to own land. The brutal, violent man that the reader of Song of Solomon comes to know is the product of greed taking over him. Storhoff explains that Macon’s inability to “balance self-aggrandizement with generosity and cooperation within his community,” (5) and to work cooperatively with other members lead to his failure. Unlike his father his land is not the object in which his community enjoys and takes pride in. Pilate makes her own attempt to “recreate the security and love she enjoyed as a child on the lost farm” (Storhoff 6) but also fails to balance out her life. Due to trauma as a child Pilate started to practice a life of self-abnegation which was in comparison completely opposite from the extremely materialistic man Macon became. Perhaps a family life created through a combination of their beliefs would have been functional, but synthesis due to sibling conflict never did occur. The trauma Pilate and Macon experience at a young age indirectly lead to the unhealthy “anaconda love” they express towards their children. Pilate’s parenting results in Hagar’s failure to cope with the real world because she had always been “a spoiled child” (Song 151, Conversations 145) and Macon’s makes Milkman the battleground on which his marital conflict with Ruth is hashed out on. The position Milkman is put in by Ruth and Macon make it hard for him to make self-governing decisions since he feels that both parents want so much from him. By the end of the novel, Storhoff explains that Milkman is able to forgive his parents and separate himself from his enmeshment through his journey to the south that acted as both a physical and emotional separation from his family emotions. Though separation is complete, Storhoff explains that Milkman is willing to be empathetic towards his family’s issues, just not chained down by their emotions.
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Cj W
5/6/2014 07:43:39 am
Anacoda Love. Storhoff, Gary
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Beau T
5/6/2014 05:58:29 pm
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Conner Brown
5/10/2014 09:21:18 pm
Barbara Hill Rigney, The Voices of Toni Morrison, Ohio State University Press: Columbus, 1991.
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Raegan C.
5/12/2014 04:48:28 am
(I’m doing both of the shortest annotations, because I genuinely need quotes from both of these, and I’m not allowed to do a single short one.)
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Molly R
5/14/2014 05:57:09 am
Lee, Catherine Carr: "The South in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon: Initiation, healing, and home." Studies in the Literary Imagination.1998.Print.
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Angelique K.
5/14/2014 11:15:06 pm
Lee, Catherine Carr: "The South in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon: Initiation, healing, and home." Studies in the Literary Imagination. 1998. Print.
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Buse D.
5/15/2014 06:59:06 am
Lee, Catherine Carr: "The South in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon: Initiation, healing, and home." Studies in the Literary Imagination.1998.Print.
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Julia
5/16/2014 08:54:12 pm
In Naomi's Van Tol's "The Fathers May Soar Folklore and Blues in Song of Solomon" Van Tol explains Morrison's main points throughout the novel. The first theme is "keeping the spirit alive". Tol explains this by mentioning the myth of flight; "African modes of storytelling which provide a way of bringing gaps between the Black community's folk roots, and the Black American literary tradition" (Wilentz 61). Throughout the novel, Morrison has been subject to accusation of only using cultural exclusivism by mentioning just African Americans. She defends her position by stating, "insensitive white people cannot deal with black writing, but then they cannot deal with their own literature either" (Tate 160).
Reply
Sarah
5/25/2014 07:57:51 am
"Every Goodbye Ain't Gone": The Semiotics of Death, Mourning, and Closural Practice in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, by Cedric Gael Bryant
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Tasha
6/2/2014 01:21:54 am
Van Tol, Naomi. “THE FATHERS MAY SOAR FOLKLORE AND BLUES IN SONG OF SOLOMON.” Spiny. 14 June 2008.
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Maurie
6/2/2014 04:45:32 am
Lee, Catherine Carr: "The South in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon: Initiation, healing, and home." Studies in the Literary Imagination.1998.
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Angela B.
6/2/2014 10:14:22 am
Storhoff, Gary. "Anaconda love": parental enmeshment in Toni Morrison's 'Song of Solomon.' - Family Systems Psychotherapy and Literature/Literary Criticism
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Jurrien A.
6/2/2014 07:14:48 pm
Storhoff, Gary. "Anaconda love": parental enmeshment in Toni Morrison's 'Song of Solomon.' - Family Systems Psychotherapy and Literature/Literary Criticism
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