Sula and Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison examines how black people in black towns with black ideologies can be physically and emotionally destroyed by the infiltration of all institutions which are orchestrated and controlled by white people. Morrison presents a new narrative that discourages the notion of "black stories" as a distinct genre of fiction and instead presents stories that illustrate a spectrum of black identities that exist in a peaceful state until something generates a radical change in their functionality. In both of these texts, this radical change is brought about by forces beyond the control of Morrison's characters and these forces create tensions so violent and futile that they require the actions of black characters to maintain order in the text. Both Sula and Song of Solomon are anecdotal accounts accusing black people of subverting and eschewing the desires of capitalist, racist, and sexist institutions by using characters such as Pilate and Shadrack to transgress institutionalized power structures and characters such as Hélène and Guitar. who submit to these same structures. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original EssayA character who clearly submits to the infiltration of white power into the realm of the black community is Guitar. As a member of the Black Power organization, titled The Days, Guitar is responsible for using equal force violence against any white person to enact a form of retribution. Guitar clearly believes that his motivations and actions are clearly justifiable, unlike the same violent actions committed by white men. Guitar reflects: “I'm not a, I'm having fun; second, trying to obtain power, public attention, money or land; three, angry with anyone” (157). Although Guitar attempts to justify his actions, he does so by presenting them in a way that distinguishes him from the same modes of terror that exist in white power groups. Guitar thus participates, without knowing it, in a system that he wishes to destroy. Although Guitar is clearly aware of the disparities in the value of black and white lives, his mission to kill white people demonstrates the opposite of his supposed intentions. Guitar asks: “That means a black man is only the victim of a crime when a white man says so” (160). Guitar's understanding of the justice system is based on the fact that white bodies are seen as more valuable than black bodies, but Guitar chooses to use violence against white bodies to target his white oppressors. This violence plays into Guitar's belief that white bodies are worth more and his murderous motivations will combat any institutional oppression he faces. Although Milkman ultimately exists on a higher plane of life, free from oppression, Milkman and Guitar's attempt to steal Pilates' gold can simply be seen as a means by which these two men seek to maintain the idea that Money is power. The American Dream or in this case the White American Dream is the idea that everyone should have the opportunity to succeed. Guitar and Milkman desire the end result of the dream and attempt to target Pilate to achieve that end. This desire for money is the result of a desire to exercise some form of power within the black community. Throughout the book, the desire for money is seen as something that exists in people who do not sympathize with other black members of the community, such asMacon Dead. However, Morrison portrays Milkman's desires for wealth in a negative way to the point where it seems perverse. “Milkman's enthusiasm was dulled. Something perverse made him refuse to hand over the entire score on a platter to his friend” (175). Milkman's greed is because he adheres to notions of capitalism which he believes ultimately give him something in his life that he never had: free will, ownership, and power. . Ultimately, what these men desire is to maintain control and power and instill a sense of fear. In Sula and Song of Solomon, black male characters seem to exist persistently on the margins of the narratives, searching for a way in. Milkman and Guitar find this way through their understanding of terror as a means of being heard or seen as human. Morrison writes: “Now they were men, and the terror they needed to provoke in others, if only to feel it themselves, was rarer but not lighter” (177). For these two men, terror becomes their only way to understand the world, Milkman believes he can terrorize, or at least obtain power and action, by obtaining wealth and Guitar believes he can terrorize by reproducing the tactics of the Ku Klux Klan. However, it is their subtle embrace of racist and capitalist ideologies that forces them to surrender to the truth rooted in their past. Although Milkman Dead appears to be the focal point of Song of Solomon, Milkman cannot obtain the truth or seek it without the help of Pilate who, according to Susan L. Blake in her essay "Folklore and Community in Song of Solomon, represents “the spirit of community inherent in popular consciousness” (78). It is thanks to Pilate that Milkman is able to question his own motivations and probably skim through the end of the text. The magical realist elements are not questioned in the text, the only question Milkman and Pilate must face is whether or not they can learn to understand their past in order to move toward the future. Flight, whether physical or not, becomes the mode of ultimate unification of the roots with the truth of the story: the abandonment of the material (greed, power, oppression) gave the capacity to transcend all that is earthly and Pilate is the mode by which Milkman is able to discover this truth. In Sula there is no concrete manifestation of the truth through something like the ability to fly, the truth lies in resistance to white infiltration and does not rely solely on the modes of escape put implemented by slave ancestors. Helene Wright represents the influx of white ideals and internalized feelings of inferiority that manifest in her insistence on being holier than other black townspeople. Hélène is devastated when she discovers her grandmother is ill because she feels that she must degrade herself to return to a city with people who are darker and therefore less intelligent and cultured than her, but it is her perpetual adherence to the racist stereotypes. which force her to become passive in front of white people. For example, when Helen is on the train and accidentally walks into the whites-only section, she becomes fearful, weak, and complacent. Nel observes, “Then, for no earthly reason, at least no reason that anyone could understand, certainly no reason for Nel to understand the or later, she smiled. Like a street puppy wagging its tail” (21). Helene effectively submits to the white man on the train, but in doing so socially conditions Nel to do the same. Her submission extends beyond her experience on the train, Hélène somehow believes herself to be better than the other blacks because she is Creole and therefore.