Portraying the Effects of Racism

Toni Morrison's beautiful use of symbols, language and allusions (of many techniques) really conveys her message in a special way in her novel The Song Of Solomon. Morrison commonly demonstrates the oppression and racism faced by black people, in many different forms, and really plays with the reader's emotions when it comes to reading about how a character faces racism.
Pilate was introduced as a very strong and independent character who never let others' thoughts effect her beliefs and actions in any way. Her character faced a surprising flip when she talked to a police officer, who we can conclude was white. Pilate "had been shorter," Macon recollects, and she "whined to the policeman," (206)  only to be "tall again" (207) when the policeman left. Each action of Pilate is a surprising difference from her usual personality. Through Pilate’s action, we can see how absolutely degrading their actions can be, and this is seen by how Pilate physically gets smaller, her dignity shrinking in this cop's presence. Her never-quavering voice whines, showing how powerless she feels. It can be concluded she only feels this way circumstantially, as she immediately got back to her normal self as soon as the police officer left. Morrison’s extended metaphor of Pilate’s physical appearance is how she conveyed what racism can do, and how it can make others feel.