《所罗门之歌》成长主题分析

《所罗门之歌》成长主题分析

［Abstract］Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison is an initiation story and a tragic song glorifying African-Americans. By analyzing Milkman’s initiation process of growing from a purposeless and empty boy into a mature man with a sense of belonging, taking pride in his own race, this thesis aims to illustrate that only when the black return to nature and know their own culture and root, can they survive and grow mature in the drastic cultural conflict.

［Key words］Toni Morrison,Song of Solomon,black people,initiation

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I. Introduction

Toni Morrison is the first black woman writer in American literature who has won the Nobel Prize. Her works have attracted great attention from literary critics at home and abroad for a long time. In her life, she has produced eight famous works, including The Bluest Eye, Sula, Song of Solomon, Beloved and so on, thus receiving the National Book Critics Award, Pulitzer Prize and other prizes.

Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison’s third novel, is the only one

regarding a male as protagonist among her eight works. This novel has won highly evaluation from critics and is considered the best black American work after the publication of Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. It is a typical initiation story of black people. The protagonist, Milkman’s maturity of affection and awakening of male consciousness make up the initiation theme of this novel. There is no direction in Milkman’s life. He does not know his own name, nor comprehends the cultural tradition. Being selfish, he never thinks over others’ideas. With the guidance of his aunt and friend, he becomes an inheritor of African American culture, finally finding the root of his nation and going mature gradually.

Song of Solomon has got much focus from critics in America after its publication. The main critical aspects are: the importance of naming, racism, culture and other problems. Karen Carmean’s Toni Morrison’s World of Fiction is one of achievements. Scholars in China began to examine Toni Morrison’s works in the late of 1980s. The number has multiplied after her winning Nobel Prize in 1993. In 1999, the research on her had important breakthrough, for Peking University Press published Gender·Race·Culture, which was the first book studying Toni Morrison and her works very systematically and deeply in China, written by professors Wang Shouren and Wu Xinyun. It shows that China’s research on Toni Morrison has entered a new era. This thesis mainly talks about initiation of the protagonist Milkman by analyzing his growing up with