The stories of the Flying African and Ryna's Gulch are two more examples of Morrison's genius in combining disparate elements of myth and oral tradition to create contemporary fiction. Also, by contrasting the fantastic events that took place in Shalimar, which have not been documented but exist in the memories of the people who learned about them through stories from those who witnessed them, Morrison again contrasts oral tradition — "re-memory" — with recorded "history." The book-length study Drums and Shadows: Survival Studies Among the Georgia Coastal Negroes contains numerous accounts of flying Africans told by various inhabitants of the Georgia coastal regions, and Morrison herself recalls hearing these stories from her grandmother. One of the stories in Drums and Shadows focuses on a woman named Ryna, whose mother flew back to Africa, leaving her daughter behind. The book also includes a story about a slave ship about to be caught by a revenue boat. To avoid paying taxes on their cargo of about fifty slaves, the slave runners tied rocks around the slaves' necks and threw them overboard. According to local legend, the cries of the drowned slaves, like the weeping sounds echoing in Ryna's Gulch, can still be heard today.
As we observe Milkman listening to Susan Byrd's "gossip, stories, legends, [and] speculations," eventually piecing together a story that makes sense to him, we realize that he is participating in the storytelling process and contributing to the legacy of oral tradition by adding his story to those created by his ancestors. But Susan Byrd has become so disconnected from her roots and so adept at hiding her family's secrets by inventing her own stories that she is completely oblivious to the rich heritage inherent in the stories she tells Milkman. What's more, having consistently devalued and discounted her family's history, she is unaware of the vital role she herself is playing in continuing the tradition of creating a master tale — composed of collective experiences, including songs, poems, and personal stories — by repeating the stories handed down to her by her ancestors. Consequently, after telling Milkman the magical stories of Solomon and Ryna, she demonstrates her disinterest and detachment by commenting that Shalimar is a "dull place": "There's absolutely nothing in the world going on here. Not a thing." Ironically, she's completely wrong: Life is going on.
