The Connection Within Me

We have finally finished Song of Solomon and overall, I thought it was a pretty interesting book with an unclear but satisfying ending. Throughout the book, there were many references to flying that have been abundant in African American culture. At the end of the book, there is a part where a bird "dived into the new grave and scooped something shiny in its beak before it flew away". This shiny item was actually Pilate's earring that was on her father’s grave. After she was shot, the bird scoops it up and flies away, signaling that Pilate was finally free. This is just one of the references to flying in the book. I noticed that there are very few white characters that are seen throughout the book and when mentioned, there is no flying associated with them at all. For example, the white peacock could not fly at all because its abundance of jewelry. This made me connect Song of Solomon to basketball. It is very similar actually. During the 2015 NBA season, it was recorded that 74.4 percent of all NBA players are black. This is a significant number compared to the 23.3% white players. It is just like Song of Solomon where there is only a tiny amount of white people seen and many African Americans. Also, in basketball there is a saying that goes "White men can't jump". This means that white players are not good at dunking the basketball because they do not jump high. Meanwhile, many black NBA players such as LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant are high flying dunkers. When we say jumping, I think of it as flying because of how they are gliding through the air. This is also very similar to Song of Solomon in that many of the black characters learn to fly, but the white characters physically cannot. I think Morrison wrote this book in a way to praise black people and what they can really do, and the National Basketball Association is a clear example of what Morrison is trying to portray.