Identity In Toni Morrison's Song Of Solomon

In Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, names and identity play a very big role for the characters, for nearly every character’s name is related to who they are. For most of the novel the audience follows Macon “Milkman” Dead III through his coming of age and his quest to find out his true identity. Throughout the novel he pieces together his family history and ultimately ends up accepting who he is and appreciating his heritage. Through him, the audience sees what life is like for African-Americans during the time between World War II and the Civil Rights Movement. Although he is a protagonist of the novel, he is not the only one. His aunt, Pilate Dead, can also be considered a protagonist. In the story, she got her name when her father picked

Throughout the novel, the idea of flight is a major thematic subject; the book opens with the flight of Robert Smith and closes with the flight of Milkman, and Milkman’s heritage is centered on his great-grandfather Solomon’s flight. Morrison demonstrates there are multiple ways to “fly” throughout the book. There is the harmful flight of Robert Smith, who said he would “take off from Mercy and flay away on [his] own wings” (3), and Solomon, who, according to the myths of those in Shalimar, “flew…like a bird...and went right on back to wherever it was he came from” (323). This type of flight is shown to be a negative form of flight, for Robert Smith flies (commits suicide) in order to escape his troubles, and Solomon flies in order to escape slavery, and leaves behind his wife, who becomes overcome with grief and goes insane, and twenty-one kids. Milkman also goes through this type of flight when he goes to Pennsylvania and Virginia to find the gold and eventually his history; because of this Hagar dies: “He had left her. While he dreamt of flying, Hagar was dying” (332). In stark contrast, Pilate is, according to Milkman, “without ever leaving the ground, she could fly” (336). This is demonstrated multiple times through Pilate’s actions. Thus, because she can fly in such a manner, Pilate is able to be a benevolent person to all. She is be free partially because, like Milkman did at the end of the book, she accepted who she was despite the fact that she was alienated for having no navel and faced racism like other blacks at the time. In the first part of the book, Pilate can be seen in stark contrast to Milkman, because he seems spiritually dead while she is not; he uses Hagar until he does not want her anymore, but later on in the book Milkman helps others