The Raven

“they [Pilate, Reba, and Hagar] listened to what he [Milkman] said like bright-eyed ravens, trembling in their eagerness to catch and interpret every sound” (79).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                In her 1977 novel, Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison, a Nobel Prize winner for her books on the black community, highlights the eccentric members of Milkman Dead’s family and society. Specifically, the novelist emphasizes Milkman’s perception of his family members based on their response to his acts and oddities. Unlike his immediate family, Milkman’s aunt, Pilate, and cousins, Reba and Hagar, question him rather than adopt a passive understanding to his actions. Morrison details the three women’s reactions to Milkman in a passage which highlights their unwavering desire to understand, which presents the manner in which I hope to live my life.  For example, Milkman compares the women’s listening to that of “bright-eyed ravens”. Morrison utilizes the perception of ravens as smart birds and their reputation for solving complex problems to indirectly characterize the women as intelligent and inquisitive. Moreover, the novelist emphasizes the ability of ravens to fly to highlight that the women’s zeal for understanding affords them the power to overcome obstacles in their lives. Similarly, Morrison highlights the women’s “eagerness to catch and interpret every sound”. Again, the novelist indirectly characterizes Milkman’s aunt and cousins as willing to understand, but she also emphasizes their greater desire for enlightenment on every aspect of Milkman’s character. Personally, I hope to live my life in the manner that this passage describes. As I value learning, I hope to always yearn for understanding and question the actions of not just my family members, but also others. Furthermore, I desire to shape my own perception of the world based on my observations of society and its members. Still, I desire most to exploit these characteristics to enable myself to overcome obstacles in my life and to fly by understanding the world to the best of my ability.