Out Of The Ordinary

Book titles often call my attention. Every time I’m going to start a new book I make a picture in my head of what the book can be about based on its title. Most of the times I’m wrong, still I enjoying doing it because titles fascinate me. When I read the title of my new book: Song of Solomon nothing came to head. I was blank. So the only thing left to do was read.

After 40 minutes more or less I was done with the first thirty pages. And, unlike before there was a whole lot going through my head. Toni Morrison starts her novel with a note. A note left by the insurance agent and it said: "At 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday the 18th of February 1931, I will take off from Mercy and fly away on my own wings” (3). Already this makes the novel interesting. Why would Mr. Smith want to commit suicide? Was he trying to prove a point or was he just desperate with his life? My thoughts are that he was desperate and could not take it anymore because “none of them (people) suspected he had in it him” (9).

After Mr. Smith´s episode occurred, Morrison starts describing the family of a doctor. It was said that his wife and daughters lived a peaceful life but “it was not peaceful, for it was preceded by and would soon be terminated by the presence of Macon Dead” (10). We can guess then, that he is a complicated man because the family doesn’t enjoy his presence. Due to this we see his wife Ruth as a struggling character. Her husband feels hatred towards her and she can´t do anything but find comfort in a watermark. “Like a lighthouse keeper draw to his window to gaze once again at the sea” (11). It was something that made her feel secure and gave her tranquility because somehow she knew it was hers. Another thing that helped her escape from harsh reality was breastfeeding her son. He was old enough for that still, “she felt him. His restraint, his courtesy, his indifference, all of which pushed her into fantasy” (13).

Characters and their names are unique in the novel. Morrison portrays each of them with they struggle that they have. Macon hates his family and it addicted to wealth. Ruth struggles because of her husband. Pilate his sister has a name that makes allusion to the bible. And she struggles with the fact that she lost her mother and her life is a mess, “she had no electricity because she would not pay for the service” (27).

Up to know the description of the family and the individual characters give clues that the novel is going to be about struggles. It is placed in a time where racisms was present reinforcing the suffering that the characters may have. I will continue reading to see what happens with all of them but definitely my first impression of the novel is that it´s out of the ordinary.