Song Of Solomon By Morrison Essay, Research Paper

The Icarus Myth in Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon Throughout literature it has

been common for authors to use allusions to complement recurrent motifs in their

work. In Toni Morrison’s Song Of Solomon, Milkman learns that his desire to fly

has been passed down to him from his ancestor Solomon. As Milkman is figuring

out the puzzle of his ancestry, he realizes that when Solomon tried to take his

youngest son, Jake, flying with him, he dropped him and Jake never arrived with

his father to their destination. Sound familiar? Well, it seems quite probable

that Morrison drew from the Daedalus/Icarus Greek myth. Daedalus was a

well-known architect and engineer in Athens. King Mines invited Daedalus to

Crete to build him a labyrinth, and when it was completed, Mines jailed him

within it. In order to escape, Daedalus built two sets of wings – one pair for

himself, and the other for his son, Icarus- using wax and feathers, which they

used to fly off from Crete. On their journey to Athens, Icarus decided to try to

challenge the sun, even though his father had warned him that if he got too near

to the sea his wings would dampen and fall apart, or if he got too close to the

sun, the wax in his wings would melt, and he would lose the ability to fly.

Ignoring Daedalus’ warnings, Icarus flew too high and the sun melted the wax

that held his wings together. Icarus fell into the Aegean Sea and died. Solomon,

a slave, had been a leader when he worked in the cotton fields in the South. One

day he decided to fly back to Africa with his youngest son, Jake, leaving behind

his wife Ryna and their twenty other children. Black lady fell down on the

ground Come booba yalle, come booma tambee Threw her body all around Come konka

yalle, come konka tambee…(303). This verse of the popular children’s song

which Milkman heard in Shalimar, Virginia, was referring to Ryna’s sobbing, an

event which also led to the naming of Ryna’s Gulch where it is rumored that

Ryna’s spirit moaned night and day alike for Solomon’s return. When Solomon is

flying, however, he drops Jake- also the name of Milkman’s grandfather- and

unlike Icarus in Greek mythology, Jake survives his fall. Milkman’s desire to

fly mirrors one of the foremost fantasies of any child or dreamer. The child’s

desire to fly is expressed when Milkman (as a young child) loses all interest in

himself when he realizes that he cannot fly. Morrison proves that the

"childish" desire to fly never dies when Robert Smith tries to fly

from No Mercy Hospital in Michigan. Milkman quickly regains his confidence when

he unlocks the mystery of his grandfather and recognizes that a he was able to

fly: "And he began to whoop and dive and splash and turn. ‘He could fly!

You hear me? My great-granddaddy could fly! Goddam!’ He whipped the water with

his fists, then jumped straight up as though he too could take off"(328).

In conclusion, one of the most important motifs in Song of Solomon is that of

flying, or perhaps more importantly the craving and interminable interest in

learning to fly. Morrison uses numerous methods to emphasize this aspect of her

novel. In my opinion, the most interesting comparison is between Solomon to

Daedalus, and Jake to Icarus. At the end of the novel, as Milkman soars from one

plateau to the next, we realize that even if he can never fly away from his

problems as Solomon and Daedalus could, his fantasy has already been fulfilled

through the knowledge that he has learned to face his problems head on instead

of simply mastering the art of escape- flying.