The "Deoxidization" Of Black Identity

Toni Morrison, the 1993 Nobel Prize winner for literature, is the first Afro-Americanwoman writer who wins the Nobel Prize for Literature. Morrison's particular identity, being ablack woman, contributes to various commentaries on her works from different perspectives.She, keeping reflecting and exploring the African American history, fate and spiritual world,breaks the silence on black culture, a civilization that exists underneath the American culturalmainstream.Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison's third and representative novel, different from herother novels which focus on female protagonists, delineates a male protagonist. Through thedepiction of Milkman, the representative of middle-class black young men, Morrison showsincisively modern black Americans'bitterness, oscillation, confusion and ignorance derivedfrom their rootlessness underneath the mainstream congesting with the racial discriminationand segregation. Besides, Morrison attempts to find a way out for black people as a race inmodern society. The thesis is to illustrate the theme of Song of Solomon and search for theview Morrison believes on African Americans, their identity, their culture and their future.Song of Solomon, by the combination of African Americans'identity and culture ----the rootof self-affirmation in reality, searches African Americans'cultural identity, reveals Morrison'sidea of what is the heritage of African culture to modern black Americans and what values itaffirms and rejects, also emphasizes the importance of African Americans'awareness andacceptance of their history and their cultural past.This thesis attempts to illustrate the theme by the reference of the reaction of oxidizationand deoxidization, the usual chemic reaction. From the chemic reaction of how an oxidizedmetal is deoxidized to a purified one, it is to analyzes the process of Milkman's "oxidized"identity underneath the mainstream to a "deoxidized"one ----the one with African culture.The thesis comprises five parts:Chapter One is a brief introduction to Toni Morrison, her achievement in literature, andthe novel Song of Solomon.Chapter Two deals with the "deoxidization"of self-identity. It focus on the self-identity'sappearance and the African Americans'confusion and ignorance because of the racialdiscrimination and segregation, which can be seen as the "oxidized"self, and the process ofthe "deoxidization"of self-identity, to emphasize that gaining the family name is the symbolof searching back one's self-identity.Chapter Three concerns on the "deoxidization"of black communal identity. Because ofthe assimilation of white culture, the black community is covered with white color, all theblacks are far from their ancestor, their tradition. Only with the worship of the ancestor, theblack community can find out the communal identity belongs to themselves and solidify theblacks.Chapter Four devotes to the studies of the "deoxidization"of black cultural identity. First,it elucidates the importance of the heritage of the African culture by Macon Dead II's andPilate. Then, it shows the significance of the heritage of the African culture: the black culturaldomestication on humanity and black community.Chapter Five draws a conclusion with a reaffirmation of the focus of the thesis.