The narration of the story is beautifully divided into parts: the first part is set in an unnamed town in Michigan and it depicts Milkman’s life from birth to his early thirties, within this section the author focuses on the emptiness of the protagonist’s life and his aimless visions caught between his father’s materialistic lifestyle and his aunt’s traditional values. This is the part infused with the most flashbacks to the characters’ past which enables the reader to truly understand each one individually. We learn that Milkman’s father and his aunt have run away after their father has been murdered and although they crossed paths eventually they don’t speak to each other because they have different views and standards and Macon feels embarrassed by such abnormally spiritual sisters and thinks that she threatens his social position. This part ends with Milkman’s attempt to leave his town in search for his concrete inheritance. …show more content…
What he later finds gives him profound joy and a solid sense of purpose; he turns to a compassionate, responsible adult. He finally returns to him hometown to retell everything to his aunt Pilate and both of them return once again to Shalimar where they visit Solomon’s leap; the mountain from which Solomon flew to Africa.
The novel ends rather tragically with Pilate’s death and Milkman’s leap across the mountain calling the killer’s
In the first part of the novel, Milkman is his father's son, a child taught to ignore the wisdom of women. Even when he is 31, he still needs "both his father and his aunt to get him off" the scrapes he gets into. Milkman considers himself Macon, Jr., calling himself by that name, and believing that he cannot act independently (120). The first lesson his father teaches him is that ownership is everything, and that women's knowledge (specifically, Pilate's knowledge) is not useful "in this world" (55). He is blind to the Pilate's wisdom. When Pilate tell Reba's lover that women's love is to be respected, he learns nothing (94).
Near the end of the book Milkman seems to change his view of his father, with some help from the positive memories of the old men in the passage.
Milkman being interested in Pilate granddaughter, spends a great deal of his childhood at Pilate's house--despite his fathers disapproval. After living at home for the past thirty years Milkman becomes swamped with his family secret. His farther claims that Pilate stole the gold from the man his killed camp sight. And Pilate claims the bag of her 'inheritance' only to be bones. Becoming frustrated, Milkman sets out to find the truth of his family fude. Toni Morrison's mystery novel keeps the readers curiosity,as she write her storyline about the lifestyle of a black society in the 1980's. Within this black society, the people are pursuing their freedom. Toni theme of her novel is freedom, and each character can only obtain their freedom by one of two paths.
Milkman is the protagonist of the novel and also the embodiment of Morrison's notion of individual self-discovery. Throughout his life Milkman is pulled in all directions by the people around him. His father wants him to work with him, his mother wants him to go to medical school, Hagar wants a serious relationship, Guitar wants him to accept the Seven Days. Milkman rejects all of these options and drifts away from those who want to direct his life. Milkman gains his self-awareness after he leaves Southside and travels to Shalimar. The journey through Danville profoundly changes him. He looses or damages all of his material possessions before he leaves Danville. “Milkman is symbolically stripped of all of the things that connect him to his life in Southside”(Davis 225). However, it is in Shalimar that he undergoes spiritual growth and gains se...
...e on her part. Throughout the story, the Mother is portrayed as the dominant figure, which resembled the amount of say that the father and children had on matters. Together, the Father, James, and David strived to maintain equality by helping with the chickens and taking care of Scott; however, despite the effort that they had put in, the Mother refused to be persuaded that Scott was of any value and therefore she felt that selling him would be most beneficial. The Mother’s persona is unsympathetic as she lacks respect and a heart towards her family members. Since the Mother never showed equality, her character had unraveled into the creation of a negative atmosphere in which her family is now cemented in. For the Father, David and James, it is only now the memories of Scott that will hold their bond together.
Milkman befriends an older boy named Guitar, visits his Aunt Pilate, and falls in love with Pilate’s granddaughter Hagar. Milkman also lives in fear of his father, the methodical businessman Macon Dead. When Macon discovers that Milkman has been visiting Pilate's house, he makes the boy come to work for him to diminish his free time. Milkman is given the job of collecting the rents from the poor tenants whose houses his father, one of the wealthiest black men in the town, owns.
The movie “Rain Man” was released in 1988. This movie is basically about two brothers who go on an adventure together, but not just for good intentions. This movie stars Tom Cruise, who plays as the character Charlie Babbit, and Dustin Hoffman, who plays as the character Raymond. In the beginning of the movie, one would have never thought that Charlie Babbitt had a brother. Charlie Babbitt owned his own automobile company. He appeared successful and very self-centered. Charlie Babbit’s automobile company is in trouble. He is in serious debt.
Milkman?s journey into manhood begins when he is in his thirties. He has been thriving for financial independence since he began working for his father. He also wants to es...
In part two, Milkman goes south to his father's hometown. He is looking for a fortune that his father and aunt had found long before. When he does not find the fortune he begins trying to find where it went. This takes him to where his great grandfather and mother originated. Milkman eventually is led to the town where he is a direct descendant of the town's legend, Solomon. It is in this town that Milkman finds himself and becomes his own m...
As Morrison gives an important point on the materialism and classism that Macon grew up adopting mentally to attain freedom which he raised Milkman to believe was to “...Own things. And let the things you own own other things. Then you’ll own yourself and other people too. Starting Monday, I’m going to teach you how” (Morrison 55). This idea of owning things and it leading to owning others and finding freedom through ownership of oneself is an important representation of the classicism through materialism that Morrison gives in the book. This hierarchal state of ownership of objects and people not only dehumanizes a person, but also the individual who strives for ownership as a means of freedom which is seen as Macon believes he has some level of freedom as he is the landlord who owns and has control of the money and land that many African American’s in the town that they are residents of. This discrimination because of material ownership and class difference can lead to racism among those of the same ethnicity and create a further divide and greater inhibition on others state of
...ry peaceful picture as Pilate and Milkman bury the first Macon Dead on Solomon's Leap. Putting Macon Dead to rest is symbolic of putting their past to rest. It is also the last chapter in Pilate's life because she is then shot by Milkman's best friend. Morrison does not make her death seem like a tragedy because Pilate seems ready to accept death.
Song of Solomon tells the story of Dead's unwitting search for identity. Milkman appears to be destined for a life of self-alienation and isolation because of his commitment to the materialism and the linear conception of time that are part of the legacy he receives from his father, Macon Dead. However, during a trip to his ancestral home, “Milkman comes to understand his place in a cultural and familial community and to appreciate the value of conceiving of time as a cyclical process”(Smith 58).
The two are arguing; Macon is more agitated than latter. He aggressively tells her, “You by yourself ain’t nobody. You your daddy’s daughter!” only for Ruth to inform him that she “certainly [is her] daddy’s daughter,” with a grin (119). As Milkman watches, Macon punches her. Acting in quick response, Milkman grabs his father violently and warns him: “You touch her again, one more time, and I’ll kill you” (120). Before, Milkman would have allowed for the instance to pass by. However; the abuse Milkman had seen between his mother and father was, on that day, an act “he would not be able to stand” (120). Afterwards, Macon describes to him the context of the argument, and how Ruth mocks Macon about her father and the inappropriate relationship she had with the man. Milkman suddenly feels burdened with the knowledge, and the event causes him to reflect on the choices he has made in life. Before, Milkman was passive, self-involved, and not caring for the pains and struggles of other people. He refused to accept the responsibility of his life, his actions, and any consequences that would follow because of him. For example, in order
Milkman was sent on a journey for himself to find himself. He did not want to grow up and be the man his father has become to be. Through many hardships and difficulties along the way, with the help of Guitar and Pilate, he was able to become independent as well as become one person in himself.
The law exists to protect the people and their rights. Laws are also made to provide security to the people, but what happens when that same law grants you the right to kill? The same law that protects can also become your enemy that plays with human morality. In today’s society, we can clearly see the laws affecting and changing human morality regarding the killing of other human beings in war. In the story, The Gentle Rain, the story evolves a pilot who claimed he had the right to kill because he was a soldier at war. He felt inferior to the others because of this. As he flew over a town that was labeled an enemy, his ego altered. He even compared himself to God. He had the ability to either be merciless and kill anyone at sight, or have compassion and have spare lives. The pilot felt that he was doing nothing wrong when feeling superior to others. To him, he was just a soldier following orders.