In Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon and Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie the authors utilized symbolism to convey important aspects of the novel. Symbolism was used to enhance the importance of the novel by using an underlying message to portray the larger picture. These two authors used symbolism to reveal the significance it had in the character's lives. By using a central concept as symbolism it allows the author to tie all the loose ends in the novel in an intriguing manner. The symbolism of flying in Song of Solomon and the glass collection in The Glass Menagerie demonstrates the author's intentions of using this technique.
             In Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison used the central concept of flying as a symbol. This symbol represented freedom for the characters in many ways. For Macon Dead Sr. it showed the freedom that the slaves had achieved after the Civil War. Flying allowed the protagonist of the novel, Milkman to escape from his problems via flying. Flying constituted of freedom in a physical and mental aspect. Milkman was able to cope with his problems by flying away. When Milkman went on a journey to find out about his family roots he discovered the relative importance that the symbol flying had in his ancestry. Flying was associated with his great grandfather who flew back to Africa. Toni Morrison was able to use flying as a symbol to sum up the novel in which she illustrated the relevance of flying through the many generations.
             In The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams used the glass collection as a symbol that represented the character of Laura. Laura was as unique and fragile as her glass collection. Her glass collection is the only interaction she has. She is cut off from the real world and also keeps her animals in seclusion. However, when the horn of the unicorn fell off that showed how she emerged from her shell of shyness. Just as the unicorn goes through metamorphosis so does Laura. ...