A Class Blog exploring American literature and the American experience.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Song of Solomon Characters
Who is your favorite character in Song of Solomon? Why? What do you like the most about their character? Who is your least favorite character? What did they do that you didn't like/agree with?
At this point of the novel my favorite character is Pilate because she seems really altruist: she feels guilty because of the murder she has done with his brother and she goes back to find the bones so that she can give a more respectable death to the man she killed; she decides to move where Macon lives as soon as she realizes that it is the best solution for her granddaughter Hagar (even if that was not "her place"); she helps Ruth with her relationship with Macon and then she helps keeping Milkman alive; she also tries to calm Ruth down when she discovers about Hagar wanting to kill her son, being the only one that reflect and doesn't only follow her instinct/feelings; in the end she also lies to the police to protect Milkman. My least favorite character is Macon because he is completely selfish and he wants to control and dominate everything. He therefore wants everybody to be subjugate and the only thing that really matters to him is money.
I really like the character of First Corinthians.We didn't know much about about the character till the chapter 9, where Morrison describes 'Corrie's' new job as a maid and her relationship with Porter.I really liked the way Corinthians never told anybody that she worked as a maid, because it gave the character the mysteriousness. I don' t think she was ashamed of her job. I think that she really liked it, but was afraid that if someone knew, her parents would make her leave the position. I think so because her parents treated her a small child even though he was in her late thirties. From all the things she had during her life, she missed the most basic feeling at her own house, but she found it in her job. "In that house she had what she never had in her own: responsibility." I particularly liked the passage of the chapter where Porter tells her that he "doesn't want a baby doll. He wanted a grown-up woman that wasn't scared of her daddy." I really liked the monologue of First Corinthians that she gave after this question. I felt sorry for her at the beginning when she tried to remember if she knew any "grown-up" woman, but realized that none of the women she knew were able to resist their parents.The only grown-up women she could think of were the one on the bus. "You mean like those women on the bus? You can have one of them, you know? ...They'd love to have a greeting card dropped in their lap. ... They wouldn't know mediocrity if it punched them right in their fat faces. They'd laugh and slap their fat tights and take you right on into their kitchens." I really liked how he finally dared to say what he though. I really loved the ending: "But no. You wanted a lady. Well there is a difference between a woman and a lady, and I know you know which one I am." This last sentence especially was very altruistic and made feel proud of 'Corrie' she stood for what she thought and in the end even dared not to come home that night. I really wish we knew more about that character as we continue reading.
My favorite character is probably Guitar. Ever since I found out that he was in this Seven Day's Group, my interest of him grew. Before I knew the "bad" side of Guitar, I didn't like his character. But the fact that he is in this group is really interesting to me. I like reading more about it to find out what he and his group will do next. I also really like First Corinthians because she has also become a complex character. Before chapter 9 I was like "why did Morrison even include First Corinthians in this book. Her character is so boring!" But now that we know so much about her, her character makes her much more interesting and you want to learn more about her secret life with Porter. My least favorite character is probably Hager because she is opposite of Guitar and First Corinthian in that she is not a very complex character and in my opinion, she isn't the most interesting character either. She is just too plain for me and therefore is my least favorite character in the novel at this point. Maybe she will become a complex character too later in the novel, but she is just not a very interesting character in my eyes.
I agree with Vale. I think Pilate is my favorite character as well. I always think that Pilate and Macon II formed a really strong comparison. They both start at the same position where they live together at the bottom of the society. But after similar journeys (lots of sufferings), Macon II becomes extremely cold blood and Pilate becomes very kind-hearted and protective. She clearly understood that Guitar and Milkman were trying to steal the green package. But she still covered it up for Milkman.
However, I don't have a least favorite character. I don't hate anyone of them in specific because I think it is totally understandable of what they're trying to do. Although I think Macon's idea of stealing gold is too greedy to be praised. That's the one thing I hate him for. But I don't really hate him as a character.
I really agree with what you said Bruce about not really hating a character. I think that we get too caught up in comparing a character's actions to the ones that we would make. I think its really interesting and cool that you brought up how they do the things that they think would be best for themselves and that we have to look at the situations from their point of view.
My favorite character so far in the book is Guitar. I agree with Ryan that when we learned about him being in the Seven Days he grew more interesting. I think why I found him so interesting is because he contradicts himself about the whole issue of the Seven Days and their justification for killing innocent people. It's interesting to see the logic behind his train of thought. I also like this character because he provides a interesting argument for his views. I agree with Bruce and Katie that there isn't really a character in the novel that I hate. I think each character provides a different aspect to the story. Even the characters we thought were insignificant in the beginning, First Corinthians and Magdalena called Lena, are becoming more important later in the book.
The thing that interests me the most about the personalities of each character is that they are all somewhat flawed. There is no character that I especially like or especially dislike probably because there is no character in the book that Morrison makes the reader want to like. The only character that may be an exception to this would probably be Pilate because she is the only one who is willing to be herself.
I really like Guitar as well. I like the idea of the Seven Days that justice must be served for something like unjust lynching. I like his view on Milkman that he needs to mature and try and separate from his family. I really don't like Macon. I don't like him because he thinks he is better then his family because he is a man.
I agree with Bridget. I don't really like or dislike anyone too much. If i absolutely had to choose, I'd probably say my favorite was Pilate because she seemed like the outcast underdog at first, then turned out to be the complete opposite of whatever people had said about her. And while she's still very weird and quirky, she has a different dimension about her that makes me extremely curious. I think my least favorite if i had to choose would be Milkman just e=because I feel like the entire novel thus far has been him complaining about his life and how things could be and why they aren't different, but he never takes any initiative in fixing anything; he just throws more pity parties for himself, which is really annoying.
At this point of the novel my favorite character is Pilate because she seems really altruist: she feels guilty because of the murder she has done with his brother and she goes back to find the bones so that she can give a more respectable death to the man she killed; she decides to move where Macon lives as soon as she realizes that it is the best solution for her granddaughter Hagar (even if that was not "her place"); she helps Ruth with her relationship with Macon and then she helps keeping Milkman alive; she also tries to calm Ruth down when she discovers about Hagar wanting to kill her son, being the only one that reflect and doesn't only follow her instinct/feelings; in the end she also lies to the police to protect Milkman.
ReplyDeleteMy least favorite character is Macon because he is completely selfish and he wants to control and dominate everything. He therefore wants everybody to be subjugate and the only thing that really matters to him is money.
I really like the character of First Corinthians.We didn't know much about about the character till the chapter 9, where Morrison describes 'Corrie's' new job as a maid and her relationship with Porter.I really liked the way Corinthians never told anybody that she worked as a maid, because it gave the character the mysteriousness. I don' t think she was ashamed of her job. I think that she really liked it, but was afraid that if someone knew, her parents would make her leave the position. I think so because her parents treated her a small child even though he was in her late thirties. From all the things she had during her life, she missed the most basic feeling at her own house, but she found it in her job. "In that house she had what she never had in her own: responsibility." I particularly liked the passage of the chapter where Porter tells her that he "doesn't want a baby doll. He wanted a grown-up woman that wasn't scared of her daddy." I really liked the monologue of First Corinthians that she gave after this question. I felt sorry for her at the beginning when she tried to remember if she knew any "grown-up" woman, but realized that none of the women she knew were able to resist their parents.The only grown-up women she could think of were the one on the bus. "You mean like those women on the bus? You can have one of them, you know? ...They'd love to have a greeting card dropped in their lap. ... They wouldn't know mediocrity if it punched them right in their fat faces. They'd laugh and slap their fat tights and take you right on into their kitchens." I really liked how he finally dared to say what he though. I really loved the ending: "But no. You wanted a lady. Well there is a difference between a woman and a lady, and I know you know which one I am." This last sentence especially was very altruistic and made feel proud of 'Corrie' she stood for what she thought and in the end even dared not to come home that night. I really wish we knew more about that character as we continue reading.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite character is probably Guitar. Ever since I found out that he was in this Seven Day's Group, my interest of him grew. Before I knew the "bad" side of Guitar, I didn't like his character. But the fact that he is in this group is really interesting to me. I like reading more about it to find out what he and his group will do next. I also really like First Corinthians because she has also become a complex character. Before chapter 9 I was like "why did Morrison even include First Corinthians in this book. Her character is so boring!" But now that we know so much about her, her character makes her much more interesting and you want to learn more about her secret life with Porter.
ReplyDeleteMy least favorite character is probably Hager because she is opposite of Guitar and First Corinthian in that she is not a very complex character and in my opinion, she isn't the most interesting character either. She is just too plain for me and therefore is my least favorite character in the novel at this point. Maybe she will become a complex character too later in the novel, but she is just not a very interesting character in my eyes.
I agree with Vale. I think Pilate is my favorite character as well. I always think that Pilate and Macon II formed a really strong comparison. They both start at the same position where they live together at the bottom of the society. But after similar journeys (lots of sufferings), Macon II becomes extremely cold blood and Pilate becomes very kind-hearted and protective. She clearly understood that Guitar and Milkman were trying to steal the green package. But she still covered it up for Milkman.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I don't have a least favorite character. I don't hate anyone of them in specific because I think it is totally understandable of what they're trying to do. Although I think Macon's idea of stealing gold is too greedy to be praised. That's the one thing I hate him for. But I don't really hate him as a character.
I really agree with what you said Bruce about not really hating a character. I think that we get too caught up in comparing a character's actions to the ones that we would make. I think its really interesting and cool that you brought up how they do the things that they think would be best for themselves and that we have to look at the situations from their point of view.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite character so far in the book is Guitar. I agree with Ryan that when we learned about him being in the Seven Days he grew more interesting. I think why I found him so interesting is because he contradicts himself about the whole issue of the Seven Days and their justification for killing innocent people. It's interesting to see the logic behind his train of thought. I also like this character because he provides a interesting argument for his views. I agree with Bruce and Katie that there isn't really a character in the novel that I hate. I think each character provides a different aspect to the story. Even the characters we thought were insignificant in the beginning, First Corinthians and Magdalena called Lena, are becoming more important later in the book.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that interests me the most about the personalities of each character is that they are all somewhat flawed. There is no character that I especially like or especially dislike probably because there is no character in the book that Morrison makes the reader want to like. The only character that may be an exception to this would probably be Pilate because she is the only one who is willing to be herself.
ReplyDeleteI really like Guitar as well. I like the idea of the Seven Days that justice must be served for something like unjust lynching. I like his view on Milkman that he needs to mature and try and separate from his family. I really don't like Macon. I don't like him because he thinks he is better then his family because he is a man.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Bridget. I don't really like or dislike anyone too much. If i absolutely had to choose, I'd probably say my favorite was Pilate because she seemed like the outcast underdog at first, then turned out to be the complete opposite of whatever people had said about her. And while she's still very weird and quirky, she has a different dimension about her that makes me extremely curious. I think my least favorite if i had to choose would be Milkman just e=because I feel like the entire novel thus far has been him complaining about his life and how things could be and why they aren't different, but he never takes any initiative in fixing anything; he just throws more pity parties for himself, which is really annoying.
ReplyDelete