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摘 要

通过成长小说理论，本论文分析了托尼·莫里森所写的《所罗门之歌》中派拉特的成长,以此证明它是一部典型的成长小说。派拉特一直被评论界认为是托尼·莫里森塑造的最成功的女性形象之一，是完美的黑人女性形象的代表。本文将从派拉特不畏嘲笑的天真，遭遇各种不幸却越发坚强的内心，对身边人善良友好以及不断成熟最终获得认可这四个方面写出了她的自信，乐观和坚强，。本文旨在希望每个人都能像派拉特一样拥有面对生活中困难的勇气，同时希望能引起国内外学者对成长小说尤其是黑人女性成长小说更多的关注。

关键词：《所罗门之歌》；成长小说；派拉特

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Toni Morrison and her works 1

1.2 Initiation story and the study significance 2

2. Literature Review 3

3. The Initiation of Pilate 4

3.1 The innocence of Pilate 4

3.2 The independence of Pilate 5

3.3 The love of Pilate 6

3.4. The maturity of Pilate 7

4. Conclusion 10

Works Cited 11

1. Introduction

1.1 Toni Morrison and Her Works

Toni Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. Her works has attracted great attention from literary critics at home and abroad for a long time. She is the author of eight novels including The Bluest Eye, Beloved (made into a major film), and most recently Love, thus receiving the National Book Critics Award, Pulitzer Prize and other prizes. These works are American black life as the main content, full of delicate strokes, characters, languages and vivid stories.

Song of Solomon was Tony Morrison"s third novel, published in 1977, when it was included in the "book of the month club" preferred titles, and won the National Book Critics Circle award. It is the story of a middle class black men"s growth experience. This work that uses an ancient folklore is the core of the story of the main line and the symbol, the shape of the representative of the black protagonist milkman. It tells the story of two generations of old and new, and occurred in the southbound northern cities and Southern towns.

As we all know, Toni Morrison was born in Ohio, whose father is a blue-collar worker and mother is a white mother family maid. Her parents originally were Southern Alabama sharecroppers, in order to get rid of poverty they moved into a small town. Her father maintained a family"s life by doing odd jobs. When Morrison was twelve, she began to learn and work at the same time in order to support her family. In 1949 she was admitted to Howard University which was opened specifically for blacks, studying English and classical literature. After graduating from college, she went into studying Faulkner and Wolfe"s novel for a master"s degree. Since then, she has taught at Texas Southern University and Howard University. In 1966, she served as a senior editor at Random House Nile Deng, who had Muhammad. Her editor of the "black book"- African-American Encyclopedia describes three hundred years of history, known as the African-American History. From the 1970s, she worked in New York State University, Yale University and Bard College to teach African-American literature. And she has written 30 high-quality book review articles for the "New York Times Book Review Weekly", since 1987 as a professor at Princeton University, teaching literature creation. Morrison can be said to be a scholar-novelist. Song of Solomon has the only one black male protagonist in the works. The works addresses the black race, gender, and cultural aspects of a show full of African-American folklore, song and soul of magical realism. Blacks realize their survival value to recover the dignity and independence of themselves; they must maintain their values and cultural systems, in order to have a real life. It is worth noting that Song of Solomon also contains the feature of initiation story. The growth of Pilate is the most excellent point in this novel. Morrison adopts lots of words to describe her career, from innocence to maturity; she is the soul of this novel.

1.2 Initiation story and the study significance

In American literature, writers began to care about the problem of youth’s growth in the middle of the 19^th century. Nathaniel Hawthorne is the first writer who centers on the novel of youth. The Scarlet Letter, his most important work, is a novel on sin and initiation. In the late half of the 19^th century, industrialization and urbanization in America throw the youth in this period into the circumstances of social reform, providing lively and fresh material concern for the problem of youth’s growth. They also mark the maturity of American novel of initiation. (Marcus 221)

The German philosopher Wilhelm Dither in his monograph Experience and Poem--- the earliest of initiation story detailed description, becomes the highest frequency definition which is referred by later study of initiation story. The general idea is that: “the growth novel in the exploration of individual growth, based on each stage of growth process not only has its own value but also the development of the next phase. Conflict and conflict in life is a necessary turning point for the development of the protagonist to mature and harmonious."(Ruiz 51)

American critic Marcos in his article "What is the initiation story” makes the following definition: initiation story shows that the young hero has gone through some painful experience after the event, or changed the original view of the world and their personality, or both. By this change he gets rid of childhood innocence. And eventually he is led to a real and complex adult world. In the initiation story, the ceremony itself is optional, but there must be evidence that the change in the hero will have a permanent impact (Marcos 56).

In his research on American growth novels, Professor Rue Yipping pointed out: “the growth novel is a novel which is the growth process of the characters, or is a novel about the growth experience of the characters. It reflects the changing process of the characters" thoughts and psychology from innocence to maturity through the narration of one or several people"s experiences."(Marcus 90)

The black female growth process can provide readers with a new perspective; at the same time it can attract more domestic and foreign scholars to study the initiation story in particular for the black female initiation story.

2. Literature Review

Toni Morrison, the first black woman writer who won the Nobel Prize for literature in the history of American Literature is becoming more and more famous nowadays. With rich imagination, poetic language and narrative techniques, her works conquer many readers, known as the “black literature narrative monument”.

Song of Solomon was Tony Morrison"s third novel, published in 1977, when it was included in the "book of the month club" preferred titles, and won the National Book Critics Circle award. It is the story of a born middle class black men"s growth experience. But black women in the novel occupy an important position, especially Milkman"s aunt Pilate. Many scholars believe that she is the richest vitality in the novel role (Zhang 85) and Pilate is novel protagonist (Luna123). Pilate is loved by readers for her "rich" and "versatility" as Hagel said. “Only such a multi-faceted character can make a lively and interesting character." (Jane 302) When Morrison evaluates the character Pilate, she said: "I want to create a flawed, victory, poor, lovely and complex woman, not a perfect man who is knowledgeable and impeccable.

After Song of Solomon has punished, Toni Morrison becomes very famous. Many researchers begin to study her works. The characters, themes and narrative techniques of the novel are analyzed from the perspectives of narrative theory, myth archetype, feminism, ecology, magic and so on. Feminine discourse and feminist discourse are the most distinct feature of her fictions. Zhang Ruwen from Zhejiang Finance University wrote a series of articles on the theme of Feminine discourse and feminist discourse of Morrison’s novels. Jing Xingmei and Liu Jianfeng make a comparison of "Song of Solomon," "darling" and "jazz" to make a detailed analysis of the text, that the historical memory to the identity of the final establishment offers some possibilities, but it is a direct result of identity crisis, rather than create subjectivity. "Tang Hongmei studied this novel from the analysis of song. What’s more, some researches were done from archetypical images, stream of consciousness, and feminist perspective. This character has become a kind of traditional culture on black people. The public thinks “Pilate is a spokesman for black cultural” (Wang 5) “She knows and protects the history of the family.” (Harold 84) Flight is the everlasting theme in Song of Solomon. Many researchers have studied it, such as Li Honghong, Xu Wenpei, Hu Hong and so on. In addition, Wu Ji, a scholar, made some researches on analyzing the meaning of name. Shuai Huajuan, Man Tao and Chen Chuxiong quested for tradition of culture. What’s more, Li Baofeng studied the image analysis of Song of Solomon. Wang Shunlai and Ma Yan studied the same theme, from the perspective of culture and intertextuality between Song of Solomon and Bible.

In short, although many researchers study Song of Solomon from different perspectives, few of them use the theory of initiation story. So it is very necessary to spend time researching the novel from this perspective.

3. The Initiation of Pilate

3.1 The innocence of Pilate

Pilate"s father Jack is a freeman after the abolition of slavery, her mother Ling is Indian. She is in violation of the wishes of her family, and Jack insists to come together. Pilate’s parents with diligence and wisdom reclaim wasteland, eventually owning the farm of themselves - Lincoln heaven. The mother dies after giving birth to Pilate, grieving father never mentions his promise. Pilate does not see her mother, enjoy motherly love, and even do not know her name. With his father and Brother Mancon’s love, Pilate’s childhood is happy, carefree, and lively. She is beautiful, wild and unrestrained, like a female nature.

As a baby, she kept things in her mouth- straw from brooms, gristle, buttons, seeds, leaves, string, and her favorite rubber bands and India rubber erasers (Morrison 113).

By the care of her father, Pilate grows healthily in juvenile. She is beautiful and lively, wildness, like a natural woman. But soon, her father was shot by his enemies. After many years her brother puts her as a snake, refusing her compound. Brother and sister’s affection is frozen in childhood memories. Pilate father"s ghost appears when Pilate is alone and helpless. She puts the father as a ghost as a father"s teachings, in fact, father"s ghost is just to find his dead wife and express their father sorrow by psychological trauma. Adult Pilate creates and supports a physiological and social dual defect of single parent families headed by women: weak and naive daughter Reba; the grandson of the female Hagar. Reba is weak enough not to be able to survive independently. Of course, there is no ability to love others. Due to Pilate and Reba’s indulgence, Hagar doesn’t grow very healthily. Therefore, in the life of the family Pilate is missing.

Because there is no navel, Pilate is very heterogeneous and cannot find lasting love object, but a husband. She finds that:

Men fucked arm less women, one-legged women, hunchbacks and blind women, drunken women, razor-toting women, midgets, small children, convicts, boys, sheep, dogs, goats, liver, each other, and even certain species of plants, they were terrified of fucking her—a woman with no navel.（Morrison 78）

When Pilate"s sister-in-law Ruth is deprived of sex to her for help, Pilate glances at Ruth"s plight. She does not have any rhetoric, but let Ruth hand a box of cornflakes, chewing. Friction lips, chewing teeth, scroll tongue, these are touching their body feelings. Tooth movement, brittle corn and chewing pleasure make Ruth repress desire, anger and pain.

3.2 The Independence of Pilate

Pilate is not the same as before. At first she has learned some survival skills alone. After her father dies, the relationship between her and her brother is not very good. It is very important for Pilate"s growth when this group of workers gather together. Pilate later recalls this period of time, said: "The main reason I stay there is a woman, a letter voodoo witch, she teaches me a lot, so I do not have homesick, like wheat Ken and Dad.”(Morrison 65) When Pilate finally comes to Virginia, she comes to realize that she does not know where to go to find her relatives. Although she has made many inquiries, she still can not find. Later, she hears some of the nearby island inhabited by black self-sufficiency, she manages to reach the island, and they accept her. Pilate does what living on the island does, she desperately wants to work to earn money herself and others do not like the rule belly. But here the most important thing is that she learns to make wine and whiskey. These skills later become her means of livelihood, giving her more freedom.

She is now 16 years old, and soon has a lover, but never let him see her stomach. Pilate soon pregnant and the other are to marry her. She refuses because she worries about their approach to life. Soon she gives birth to a daughter called Ming Libya. When the child is two years old, Pilate child"s father decides to leave the island. Pilate then is with the other men, but all of them have navels. Fortunately, Pilate no longer worries about this and hides her belly. She thinks that everything does not matter, which makes her further isolated by the same tribe.

However, all this does not defeat her, but inspires her self-growth, self-creation ability. When she realizes now, and the future of her situation in the world she decides to abandon all illusions, starting from scratch. Pilate cuts hair first, and then begins to think:" Why? What should the future be and how to live on their own valuable alive ...... what I need to know in this world? What is true?" (Morrison 167) It should be said that rich philosophical meaning of the idea that forces lonely Pilate to have a sense of marginalization. She experiences a spiritual baptism, which makes her more fearless, more mature.

3.3 The love of Pilate

Indulgence is the reason why Reba’s growth is full of malformation, resulting in offspring growth atrophy. Reba is the faithful follower of Pilate who is innocent and weak. Except good luck, she has no any other survival skills. But finally the good luck is lost. By the observation of Guitar: Reba has a pair of baby-like innocent eyes, skin covered with sores and respectful attitude of people as if she might simply be lack of something. Reba’s ideas simply remain at an early stage. Hagar does not agree with Pilate on way of life. When she is two years old, she would not see dirty and messy. At the age of three she has been strong and become arrogant vanity. She likes beautiful clothes. On the one hand, Pilate is surprised by this; on the other hand, they try to meet her for fun. They spoil her, and she, as a reward for their indulgence, also tries to hide the fact that they embarrass her. To nurture future generations should not just stop at meeting the material needs, but also to Pilate’s doting on her and Milkman incest acquiescence a direct result of the death of Hagar. When Hagar wants to use six knives to kill the milkman, Pilate hits her every time. Pilate only manhandles Hagar but does not know her mother Xing Ying, “she is too fascinated for her husband, too fascinated. She is like a mother pheasant as staring at him. Neurotic, neurotic love.” Hagar’s love is in fact hereditary by her neurotic grandmother. When Chuck Hagar is unconscious and lying in bed, they just want to show love for her. Since she can not speak, they take things to coax her. They give her a special to do good things, everywhere for her collecting gifts, expecting to be able to use these methods to get her wake up. The education of offspring for Pilate is to how is simple and rude. Some critics think why Chuck Hagar is unconscious and dead is because white is through the family, schools, media and other various channels to promote white culture value and aesthetic view. The impact of this culture directly affects Hagar"s value orientation and behavior choice. (Wang 110) Such a view is not established, Hagar does not learn on how family isolate from the outside world.

3.4. The maturity of Pilate

In spite of the extremely difficult and helpless situation, even in the most difficult situations, Pilate also adheres to self-reliance and independent way of life. In order to support the family, she learns to brew, which for all does not want to rely on women to sell their bodies to make money. This technique is better than that of other work to provide free time. By her own hard work for the economic independence, she lets a family of three meals free and easy. Although the earning is never abundant, simple life is permeated with the song and laughter. She passed is not in accordance with the men want her life declared their existence, won the independent status, she strives constantly for self-improvement the image of high standing in the white and patriarchal society.

”

Pilate is a strong family umbrella. When her daughter Reba suffers from her boyfriend threat and hurt, she is calm and brave to subdue each other. "Can you believe that she has magic to shed their skin and light up from 50 yards away from the jungle, but also to a man into a single ripe the turnip cabbage? She did not know that may touch indiscriminately to things. She never bothers others and always gives people help- all this is because she had no navel."(Morrison 87)

When Pilate’s sister-in-law Ruth is pregnant, she more than once protects Ruth belly children, allowing the safety of the milkman"s birth. Although she is not his own mother, but also give his life. In the growth process of the milkman, Pilate also plays a very important role.

Has been like a mother to protect and take care of him, when Macon abet ganged guitar in the middle of the night to steal gold by escaping police’s arrest. In order to save him and compromise, Pilate puts down her self-esteem to please a white police. What’s more, when her granddaughter Hagar is to abandon the milkman and want to kill him, she locks her in the home.

In order to escape enemies, Pilate and her brother Macon dive into the cave, meeting a guy sleeping. Brother and sister"s performance is completely different. Although white old man wakes up looking at Macon smiling, in his brain is full of the scene on how to kill his father. So the hatred passed in front of the white man, with a knife stab Macon eventually killed the old man, erasing the last trace of smile on the old man. And Pilate was surprised, standing there for a long time with no action. Even if facing the elderly stay gold, she is also indifferent, for her belongings without secretly invaded Italy. "That"s stealing. We killed a man. They"ll hunt us down. If we take the money, then they will think we murder for money. We have to put down the money, Macon. We can"t let people even with him together to seize."(Morrison 99) Brother Macon"s miserly compared; Pilate’s performance transfers people to admire the sense of morality, regardless of her Brother Macon’s threat. She does not agree with take which does not belong to their wealth. After the birth of Reba, Pilate heard the father said to her: "you can"t just fly away and leave a corpse no matter." Pilate will understand my father"s words for her father to let her go back to Pennsylvania. She and Macon killed people who left all are collected. So she went to Pennsylvania brought back a bottle with a bag of bones. Morrison describes the disclosure of Pilate’s inner world: although they do not kill people; although the deceased is a white, she still takes a deep guilt travelling long distances to find the remains of the deceased. Over the years has been brought with her to the soul comfort. All of these reflect that Pilate has a strong sense of justice and responsibility sense. The author aims to praise the black women, especially these of decency and kindness.

Pilate guides black offspring returning to black culture, so she is an emissary of the black culture. That day of her birth, Pilate sings "sell candy away". This song is changed from "the song of Solomon". She records the story of Solomon: Pilate eulogizes ancestral family to myths and legends in the form. The song suggests the mission and significance of the culture of the African American women"s children. Song of Solomon is a flying mythology. This is not to say that Solomon with homemade silk wings flying is dashed to pieces. This song in the future generations of Solomon seems to be the ancestors of the glorious freedom of the glorious record, and in Morrison seems to be the freedom of the black men and their wives to abandon the ruler of the oppression of the true portrayal. The lyrics are changed to "sell candy away", "in memory of those who are enslaved and fly away to escape the pioneer." Pilate teaches milkman black culture by the song and other oral African stories, also causing the milkman"s desire to know the history of the family and taking him back to his once grandfather"s legacy and Africa flight mythology. After several years, the milkman can understand the value of the stories and songs.

Pilate really knows how to defend their family history. She is the only person in her family to know the exact origins of her family. In her early years, she went from one end of the country to another with a rotten bag and a geography book of the year four. She brought back the songs and sang the songs again and again. In the journey of returning ancestors sites, milkman has met a lot of difficulties and setbacks; this also implies that it is very difficult for Pilate in her early trip. Milkman has open car, robust and strong money and no threat of hunger and cold. Pilate is not so lucky, but under such conditions she can still find their roots, retrieving the black cultural heritage. Her adventures make her more and more great and holy. In the end of the novel, people are aware of Pilate can also fly without the ground. "(Mai 97) her name is" astronauts" homophonic and she bears the remains of her father, carrying map navigation. All of this suggests that she bears two fold missions of the national heritage and guides the nephew "fly" inheritance.

4. Conclusion

As a female writer, Morrison observes the world through her eyes and talks about life from her perspective. Song of Solomon is a story of the growth of Pilate.

This thesis, analyzing the growth of Pilate by the theory of initiation story, is divided into four parts. Firstly, by describing how innocent of Pilate when she is made fun of her belly. She does not make any revolt to this. Secondly, Pilate becomes more and more independent because of the stronger heart. She learns many talents to support herself. What’s more, Pilate is also very kind to her generation. When they are hurt by someone, she will protect them and do all she can do to help them. Last but not least, Pilate becomes mature. She helps her nephew find the root of black culture. Using her magical power, she helps Ruth give birth to children Milkman. In his childhood, she thought that the Spirit gave him the national consciousness of enlightenment. The power of Milkman’s growth comes from the great woman. Under her love and "pilot", the black got a new life.

As a black female writer, Toni Morrison describes many black females successfully. Pilate is the soul of Song of Solomon. By using the theory of initiation story to analyze the female image in Song of Solomon, to prove that it is a classic initiation story. The black female growth process can provide readers with a new perspective; at the same time it can attract more domestic and foreign scholars to study the initiation story in particular for the black female initiation story.

Works Cited

Beckerman, Jane S. “Failure of Love: Female Initiation in the Novels of Toni Morrison.” American Literature, 1981(52): 541-563.

Buckley, Hamilton. The Bildungsroman from Dickens to Golding. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1974.

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