A small figure holding an amber lantern beneath a large horned shadow on a dark indigo wall.

Original artwork, not a still

Song of Solomon  ·  1977

Toni Morrison

What difference do it make if the thing you scared of is real or not?

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The question challenges the importance of deciding whether a feared thing is real. Its phrasing puts the experience of being scared ahead of that distinction. It suggests that fear can matter to the person feeling it even when its object is uncertain.

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