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Pilate Dead in Song of Solomon

Introduction

An American Author named as Toni Morrison wrote the novel “Songs of Solomon” in 1977. Song of Solomon draws on diverse mythological traditions, particularly biblical, Greco-Roman, and African to create a uniquely African-American narrative. This novel had won the award of National Books Critics and it was also selected in Oprah Winfrey's famous book club. Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1993 for his literature work at the Swedish Academy. The story requires the reader to participate in order to piece together the seemingly incompatible elements of the story to make a sensible and meaningful whole. Many scholars approaching Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon have tried to explain the novel in traditional mythological terms. These approaches lead to focusing upon the dangerous circumstances surrounding Milkman's conception and birth as explanations for his difference. Although the character of Milkman is the centre of the novel, the presence of Pilate Dead can be felt in the whole story (Kleyman, pp. 1-54). Pilate is different from other characters of the story, both physically and psychologically as she was born without naval and possessed magical powers. In this paper the character of Pilate dead will be discussed in detail.

Discussion

Macon's naming of Pilate becomes a conscious rejection, a defiance of the Christian narrative within which he finds himself confined. Pilate's name, though randomly chosen, becomes a symbol of his defiant anger toward Christ who had not saved his wife, Pilate's mother. As such, Macon's choice of Pilate's name is a rejection of, and perhaps an attempt to rewrite, the biblical story. This history of the origin of Pilate's name foreshadows her role as author of her own tale. Pilate's life is lived in defiance of traditional definitions of womanhood. Her birth from a dead mother and her maturation without a navel reinforces her metaphysical and psychological independence (Kleyman, pp. 1-54). Recognizing significance of her name, she wears a brass box earring in her ear that contains a scrap of paper with her name written on it. In this way the name remains attached to her person only by a thin band of gold. This pervasive but superficial connection demonstrates that a person's name is but one element in the definition of his or her identity. This quest for a personally, culturally, and historically apt identity that is rooted in a narrative that provides context and meaning is central to Song of Solomon and is the primary quest of Pilate's nephew, Milkman.

Pilate represents the secular side of the traditional dichotomy—nonconformity, freedom to explore, ties to history that transcend written records, and the extra natural quality that Ruth's limited imagination can barely glimpse. Her lack of a navel symbolizes her extra natural mothering role, as well as the mythical connotations of an individual who, as Morrison has observed, had to "literally invent her” (Morrison, pp. 12). Such a distinguishing feature, along with her height, ties her to M'Dear in The Bluest Eye and to Sula in ...