The Bobcat

Carefully stalking its prey, it hides in the shadows of the night waiting for an opportunity to strike. The Bobcat is an elusive creature, nocturnal and rarely spotted by humans. Bobcats are fierce hunters, and can kill prey much bigger than themselves. They are stealthy predators, delivering deathblows with a leaping pounce that can cover as much as 10 feet.

So why is this nimble beast portrayed as defeated in Song of Solomon? In my opinion, the bobcat symbolizes Black people. In the scene where the Bobcat is captured, "Omar sliced through the rope that bound the bobcat's feet" (281). Words like "rope" and "bound" indicate that the bobcat was tied down, or possibly chained- like the slaves. It's ironic that the feet, a bobcat's most essential tool, are being restricted. By doing so, they are left helpless, unable to exert their quiet pressure onto rabbits and mice. Slaves were constrained in every way possible, not being able to voice their opinions and in some cases, not even being able to move besides working. Even while Blacks are no longer slaves, the bobcat's restraint represents society's limitations of their freedom. As the bobcat is skinned and gutted, Guitar's words ring through Milkman's head. This intertwining of Guitar's sayings and the dissection of the bobcat portrays the violent nature of Guitar's thoughts and actions when it comes to the Seven Days. As they reach the heart of the bobcat, Milkman pulls it out of its body, possibly juxtaposing love and violence. As Milkman pulls the bobcat's heart out, he replaces his own heart, and starts to become sort of a romantic hero. The pulling of the heart is described "as easily as yolk slips out of its shell," drawing back to Pilate's discussion of an egg's perfection.

So maybe the bobcat is fierce, maybe it isn't. Toni Morrison evidently depicted it as quite hopeless, being captured and killed instantly. But maybe the point of this comparison is to show that although the bobcat is a ferocious predator, it has a heart too.