Essay on Multiple Voices in Morrisons Song of Solomon

The Significance of Multiple Voices in Morrisons Song of Solomon Of the various manifestations of voice that participate in the interplay of voices in Song of Solomon, I would like to name three - the narrative voice, the signifying voice, and the responsive voice - each of which is dialogized within itself and in relation to the others. In the opening scene of the novel, the third-person omniscient narrative voice [emphasis added] informs us that at the time of day that Mr. Smith plans to fly from the roof of Mercy Hospital, word-of-mouth news just lumbered along (3). This phrase not only encodes the black vernacular but also immediately directs the readers attention to the cultural, communicative process by†¦show more content†¦Thus, their act of negation is simultaneously a critique of racist politics and an affirmation of their ability to resist these politics through the power of the word, through their collective voice. All of this information prepares the reader for the significance of Milkmans birth at the hospital that had previously had a whites-only policy. To read this phrase dialogically then, is to hear it in the context of the heteroglossic historical, cultural, and political voices that create it.27 The narrative voice creates distance at the same time that it is infused with the same everyda y language - the vernacular - that it foregrounds through the voices of the characters in the crowd. But within this crowd is Pilate, who is initially introduced as the woman who suddenly burst into song (5). Her voice not only disrupts the gaze of the crowd at the spectacle of Mr. Smith, who is poised for flight, but also introduces her as an alternative narrative voice, whose story in the song prompts the crowd to listen as though it were the helpful and defining piano music in a silent movie (6). At this early point in the novel, however, the reader has no way of knowing that this song will become the narrative thread of the novel. It is only near the end of theShow MoreRelated Essay on Flight in Song of Solomon1579 Words   |  7 PagesTheme of Flight in Song of Solomon    Clearly, the significant silences and the stunning absences throughout Morrisons texts become profoundly political as well as stylistically crucial. Morrison describes her own work as containing holes and spaces so the reader can come into it (Tate 125), testament to her rejection of theories that privilege j the author over the reader. Morrison disdains such hierarchies in which the reader as participant in the text is ignored: My writing expects, demandsRead MoreToni Morrison and Historical Memory5014 Words   |  21 Pagesliterature for African-Americans that enables them to remember their history from slavery to the present. Toni Morrison has been called Americas national author and is often compared with great dominant culture authors such as William Faulkner. Morrisons fiction is valued not only for its entertainment, but through her works, she has presented African-Americans a literature in which their own heritage and history are truthfully disclosed. However, Morrison does not record factual history instead