Song of SolomonChapters 11-15
Flight Milkman’s flight away from
Michigan brings him to his ancestral home
With Sweet Milkman dreams of flying over a dark sea
Flight Solomon was a “Flying African,”
but his flight abandoned his child Jake
Milkman is reunited with his tribe but flies into an ambiguous endabandon (adj.)- enthusiasm, exuberanceabandon (v.)- desert, forsake
Identity As a northern black Milkman is out
of place in ShalimarCommanding demeanorWell-heeled appearanceBlatant wealth
Shalimar is source of his identity
Identity In Shalimar Milkman “hadn’t
bothered to say his name” (266). At the Byrd house Milkman
introduces himself as “Macon” (287)
Milkman learns “[w]hen you know your name, you should hang onto it” (329).
Identity Milkman is soon dressed in WWII
fatigues, divested of all that held him back: “not his money, his car, his father’s reputation, his suit, or his shoes” (277).
Milkman feels deeply connected to Shalimar
Identity The brotherhood connection
between Milkman and Guitar intensifies as Guitar “shadows” him
Identity In the mirror Hagar sees only the
identity which she believes Milkman wants
Her grotesque transformation is an exercise in the bathos
Identity The Byrd family now tries to “pass”
as white Byrds always stress that they
“were never slaves” (324). Native Americans and African
Americans experienced similar treatment at the hands of whites
Identity Milkman, Macon, and Pilate belong
to the “tribe” of Flying Africans A tribe denotes a bloodline and an
identity Pilate buries her name with her
father’s bones
Identity -- Family
Heddy Byrd Solomon
Crowell Byrd
Susan Bird
Jake (Macon Dead)
Pilate Dead
Hagar
Reba
Macon Dead , Jr.
Corinthians
Ryna
Sing Byrd
Ruth Foster
MilkmanLena
Coming of Age Milkman’s courage is tested by the
belligerent young men in the knife fight
His skill is tested by the patient men during the coon hunt
Coming of Age Milkman becomes aware of the
wrong he has done Ruth, Pilate, and Hagar
Milkman first seeks out Pilate to share his discoveries
Fathers and Sons In his privilege Macon never owned
a car that broke down The broken fan belt lands Milkman
in Shalimar, VA
Fathers and Sons Abandoned by Solomon, Jake
expresses his sorrow when he says, “You just can’t fly on off and leave a body” (147).
Singing and Songs Milkman learns his family story in
the children’s song Milkman learns to tell his own story
as he shouts the song to the dying Pilate
Singing and Songs “Jake the only son of Solomon” Jake (Macon Dead) was the only
son Solomon tried to take with him “Left that baby in a white man’s
house” Dropped Jake on the steps of the
plantation house
Singing and Songs “Heddy took him to a red man’s
house” Heddy was Native American “Black Lady fell down on the
ground/Threw her body all around” Ryna was inconsolable
Singing and Songs “Solomon done fly, Solomon done
gone/Solomon cut across the sky, Solomon gone home”
Solomon transcended his situation and flew back to Africa
Female Roles Just as Guitar kills for love of the
black race, Hagar tried to kill Milkman for love
Guitar defends the weak, small women: Hagar and Ruth
Female Roles Pilate and Reba become weak and
lose their magic under the spell of Hagar’s obsession
Ruth and Hagar share a sisterhood in their weakness
Pilate commands “Mercy” from the strong as well as the weak