Ginger in The Song of Solomon

In The Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison tends to use the environments of her characters, especially subtle details, to communicate her broader themes in the novels. We see the peacock, for example, showing how vanity keeps the characters from flying. There is the wilderness forcing Milkman to work for something. That’s why I was curious about the spicy ginger smell that kept wafting into The Song of Solomon. Seemingly random places would just start smelling of ginger! And it kept happening! So now I’m hooked. I want to know what this ginger means. 

Obviously this isn’t without a purpose, so I want to try to understand why so many things smell like ginger!

I’ll start with what I know for sure. Ginger is a spice. Spices are often associated with luxury, joy, and indulgence. There’s the whole history of the spice trade driving colonialism: people want spices. And they’re willing to do anything to get those spices and the money promised by them. This would fit into the themes of material possessions, greed, and vanity that Morrison explores in the novel. She uses the similarly random peacock to highlight this. So my hypothesis is that the ginger somehow connects to the peacock. It’s meant to add nuance to the theme of vanity, I guess. But also, because as a scent, ginger is inherently connected to the air, it can also be adapted into the idea of flight. So I’m going to go through the mentions of this weird ginger smell to get some answers. 

Mention 1: page 184 

(Milkman and Guitar just saw the peacock and are in the process of stealing the gold)

“Carp floated belly up onto the beach… yet there was this heavy spice-sweet smell that made you think of the East and tripped tents and the sha-sha-sha of leg bracelets… Where some houses didn’t even have screens, let alone air conditioners… there the ginger smell was sharp, sharp enough to distort dreams and make the sleeper believe the things he hungered for were right at hand”(184-5).

This scent comes from somewhere far away and different from the current setting in chapter one. It promises a sort of fantastical and exotic experience, coming from so far away. Because it comes from over a body of water, especially such a disgusting one, it is mysterious. The fact that the people in Southside, without air conditioners, smell it more, is telling. They are open to this hope because their own lives, on this hot night where one would really want an air conditioner, are rather uncomfortable. They are probably looking for a way out, for some sort of foreign dream to make them less miserable. This is especially relevant for Guitar and Milkman on their current quest: smelling the ginger, they are seeing a way out of the problems they have in their own lives. They are too convinced that they will get the gold from the stories and be able to fly on out of there. 

Mention 2: page 199

(Corinthians and Porter just resolved their argument and now they’re at his apartment)

I think this connection is again to something new, exciting, foreign, and freezing. Corinthians smells the ginger as she’s with Porter. This relationship is really unlike anything Corinthians has ever known- it's romantic and secret so it’s all hers. There is this connection that she wants Porter, and knows with the smell of the ginger promising her things that she can have him. Then, this idea is intoxicating or overwhelming because it promises freedom, a new chapter of her life. 

I like this “new chapter” and “your sweetest dreams are at hand” idea, actually. Because this is just at the end of part one. There is literally a new chapter, a new section starting in the novel during which this sweet ginger smell will prevail. So this ginger smell is connected to wanting something more, but not necessarily in a material way. More in a spiritual way. That doesn’t quite line up with Milkman’s mindset at this exact moment at the book, but as he continues down the path of learning his family’s story, the ginger guides him. So even though Milkman doesn’t recognize how to get the freedom he is looking for, the ginger is making him ache to get it. Right now, the “freedom” is in the gold. But it will evolve over part II to be about familial ties and realizing the fantastical elements of the past.

Mention 3: page 219

“Especially if the object of his craving is not gingerbread or chewy gumdrops, but gold.”

This passage compares Milkman’s reaction to finding Circe's house and thus forwarding his search for the gold. It again points out a huge hunger for a solved problem: the literal hunger for Hansel and Gretel, and the hunger for gold that Milkman feels. But here, the smell of the ginger is leading them astray. What Hansel and Gretel really need is a home, to find a way back to loving parents. What Milkman needs is a connection to his ancestral stories. In a way, both stories connect. They are being led astray by material possessions, by this smell of ginger. 

I guess it's like they’ve found a false gingerbread or a gingerbread trap. Hansel and Gretel are on their way to being kidnapped by a witch, and Milkman is going to be caught in the grasp of gold for a while. It’s a ginger trap. 

Mention 4: 239

When Milkman enters Circe’s house, he is lured in by a “sweet spicy perfume. Like ginger root-pleasant, clean, seductive.” Again, the ginger pulls him into a situation. The ginger pulls Milkman forward without him really thinking about it-- its like this quest of his is taking over his body, and until he meets the right conclusion he is just going to be led by this trail of ginger. 

Mention 5: Susan Byrd

I’m going to condense the Byrd house into one mention, but both times Milkman goes there it smells like gingerbread! I think this is very telling because Susan Byrd is the one who explicitly lays out the family legends for Milkman. She is the one who allows his quest for gold to fully evolve into this understanding of his family. Perhaps Susan Byrd is the root of the ginger smell, because her house is where the gingerbread is actually baking? And she puts the pieces together for Milkman, actually providing this generations-old story for his consumption?

Final mention: 335

“A deep sigh escaped from the sack and the wind turned chill. Ginger, a spicy sugared ginger smell, enveloped them.” 

When Milkman and Pilare bury Macon I, they are bringing him back home. And the ginger is there again. It's almost as if it came from the sack, like Macon I was organizing this whole thing. Anyway, I think of it as an ending or a fulfillment of a wish for Macon and Milkman and Pilate. They have returned Macon I to where he wants to be, so its spiritually fulfilling and ties up the legends surrounding his family and his life and death. 

My conclusion is that this ginger is meant to lead Milkman on a quest back to his roots, to his family’s stories. Because ginger is a root, and as a spice it makes Milkman’s life less bland. Maybe that’s a stretch. Anyway, the ginger seems to surround images of freedom and completion for Milkman and other characters. It represents a want, but not a superficial greedy want like a peacock. A deeper, almost unrealized spiritual want that a character can’t help but chase after.