The Archetypal Interpretation Of Song Of Solomon

Toni Morrison is the first black female winner of the1993Nobel Prize forLiterature. The major themes of her works are caring for black people’s history,destiny and spiritual life, questing for black people’s identity and keeping blackpeople’s cultural heritage. Song of Solomon is her third novel. It depictsMilkman—the protagonist’s south-towards adventure. To escape from the existentialvacuum of his pointless family life, he decides to seek gold in South. During thejourney, Milkman decodes his family history and ancestors’ real names by accident,and the gold-seeking journey changes into a volunteer quest for his root and identity.Since it was published in1977, it has been studied from feminism,post-colonialism, narrative strategies and other perspectives by both scholars homeand abroad. This novel’s title names after “Song of Songs” in Old Testament,meanwhile, it is known that Morrison’s several other novels are rich in mythology.Based on these, the thesis attempts to interpret the archetypes in this novel from theapproach of Archetypal Criticism, including the analysis of motif, character andimage.The thesis is composed of five parts: The first part begins with a conciseintroduction of keynotes in Morrison’s works and the plot of Song of Solomon; then itstudies the literature review of Song of Solomon as well as the basic theoretical ideasof archetypal criticism, in which the representatives, development and theoreticalconcepts are introduced briefly. In the following part two to part four, the thesis makesan exhaustive analysis of the Song of Solomon from motif, character and image. Threemotifs embodied in the novel are discussed in Chapter Two, namely quest, rebirth andflight, through which Morrison’s care for African American people’s painful life andblack people’s cherished desire for keeping ethnic cultural heritage can be felt. InChapter Three, it analyzes the archetypal characters. Milkman is the archetype of Odysseus, both Odysseus and Milkman quest for their past and home. Pilate bearssome resemblance to Great Mother. She protects and initiates Milkman in his growth,and the later successes her as the keeper of the family tradition and heritage. Ruth andHagar, who are oppressed deeply in the white-and-male dominated society, representthe archetype of scapegoat. Archetypal images are concerned in Chapter Four, Thewater image and tree image echo with the motif of rebirth, which mirror the blackpeople’s strong desire for a new life. The last part is the conclusion of the thesis. Thearchetypal interpretation of Song of Solomon not only sheds some light on theMorrison’s writing features, but also helps to reveal the deep connotations of thenovel. Black people ought to keep their traditions and cultures, can they preserve theiridentities, find a way to freedom and equality.