Song of Solomon Memory and the Past Quotes Page 2
Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
| Quote #4 His voice sounded different to Milkman. Less hard, and his speech was different. More southern and comfortable and soft. (1.2.52) |
In recalling the memories of his childhood, Macon melts a little and assumes the dialect of his hometown. Memory is capable of softening Macon. Money has made him hard.
| Quote #5 "He never read nothing. I tried to teach him, but he said he couldn’t remember those little marks from one day to the next." (1.2.53) |
Macon’s father Jake never learned to read. Here we see how even reading (along with time) is unimportant when one works with nature, when one has developed a language like the language in which the Shalimar hunting party is fluent. It seems as though it isn’t that Jake couldn’t remember the alphabet; it’s that he didn’t find it necessary to remember the alphabet. This brings to light the idea that people remember what is useful, what is important, and what is essential.
| Quote #6 The house smelled fruity and she remembered how the peach has nauseated her the last time she was there. […] She tasted again the Argo cornstarch and felt the marvelous biting and crunching it allowed her. (1.5.135) |
Smell instantly triggers Ruth’s memory. Memory lives in the olfactory, reminding us of how important taste buds are when burning a moment on the brain. Memory is not only visually or emotionally triggered. In this way, the senses again become extremely important agents in the telling of Song.
