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Oxymorons
Definition of Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
Setting
Explanation and Analysis:
Song of Solomon is set in a small, midwestern town in Michigan. The novel situates psychological and emotional stagnancy within the socioeconomic stagnancy of the region, crafting a landscape of neglect that parallels the various sources of emotional neglect Morrison’s characters experience.
Macon Dead II, for instance, is a man who emotionally neglects his home. His house exists in a state of extreme cleanliness and repair, but the family that inhabits it is psychosocially deprived. Macon does not let himself be emotionally available to his wife or children, scorning them in favor of focusing on his business. At the same time, Macon is a landlord, presiding over the rundown homes of impoverished Black people. He does not maintain these homes to a high standard—they sit hunched over like ghosts, deprived of love or care. These homes are simply vessels for profit, not places Macon considers with any respect of familial connection. Arguably, though they are poor, Macon's tenants appear to have richer relational lives than he does.
Indeed, Macon’s actual place of residence was once Doctor Foster’s house, a remnant of the older man’s eminence and influence. Macon changes nothing about the house, simply replacing the Doctor in his daughter’s life in a kind of incestuous interchange. Macon’s emotional and spiritual stagnancy is emblematized by the various homes he curates.
