Reflecting on Song of Solomon from the racial/cultural lens - Bondonno

Song of Solomon was written by Toni Morrison and takes place around the 1930’s - 1960’s. The story starts off by introducing the characters and background of the Dead family. You get to see the perspectives of being an African American during this time but also see what role they play in society and how they feel about their roles. Milkman Dead, considered the main character, grows up throughout the story but for a good chunk of it, he is a middle-aged adult. Milkman gives us insight into how he is treated in society and what he and others think about it. We learn near the middle of the novel that an African American boy was killed by White men for whistling at a White woman. The conversation that happens in a barbershop between Milkman, Guitar, and older African American men gives insight into how people would have taken the news about the killing back then as well. Some men were loud and wanted revenge right away, some were insulted but not surprised of the killing, and some were speechless. This conversation helped the reader know what they would have thought and what they would have done back then in response to the killing of the boy. It is also interesting to see the difference between what would have happened back then and now with the event of the killing. Back then, we understand from the conversation between the men in the barbershop, that the police would do nothing, find them and not convict them of anything, or not even write the event of the story in the newspaper. Compared to now, this event would be all over the newspapers and media outlets, the police would search for the White men who killed the African American boy and definitely convict them of the crime they committed. To see the difference between how the problem would have been dealt with from back then to now is drastic and surprising. This difference gives insight to the reader that times were definitely different back then and allows them to see just how wrong, unfair, and real the problems were between African Americans and Whites.