Song of Solomon Discussion Board 3 Period 7
Morrison writes:
“Rootedness: The Ancestor
as Foundation," she says, "The autobiographical form is classic in
Black American or Afro-American literature because it provided an instance in
which a writer could be representative, could say 'My single, solitary and
individual life is like the lives of the tribe; it differs in these specific
ways, but is a balanced life because it is both solitary and representative.'
The contemporary autobiography tends to be 'how I got over—look at me—alone—let
me show you how I did it'” (339). This is about journeys through life, and
providing a path for others to follow.
She draws a boundary between traditional white American autobiography
that focuses on individualism and Afro American autobiography and literature,
which center on the individual but are also about the community.
Explain
and characterize Milkman's Journey. Where does it begin and end, or
does it? What type of a journey did he embark upon and to what extent
was he an active participant in his own experience? Please support your discussion with at least three properly embedded quotes (you may not repeat others' quotes,
however you may wish to interpret a quote rather differently). Your
discussion should be informative, reflective, and representative of the
entire novel. Always refer to others' ideas as you agree or disagree . . . there is a reward for those who consider multiple perspectives as they offer their own.
Since he was a child, Milkman has had a somewhat bleak outlook on life. He's experienced the feeling of “flying blind”(pg 32) which emphasizes Milkman's dull existence as well as the significance of flight, to be free, which Milkman has yet to experience. His habit to “concentrate on things behind him...as though there were no future”(pg33) plays a significant role in Milkman's lifeless state because he can't look forward despite that as a child, there's no past to be had. However the past referenced is Milkman’s family history that he was yet to discover which ultimately frees him. As Milkman grows, he is determined to become independent and severe all ties to Macon and his family. Milkman desperately seeks to “live [his] own life” (of 221-222) and escape his monotonous life. Milkman’s solution is to find the gold because “unless [he] [has]...money” (pg 222) he can't be free. What began as a journey of greed and gold concluded with Milkman’s epiphany and discovery of his family history which transforms him from a self centered, selfish man into a selfless one. At this point Milkman learns to truly fly and once he accepted his ancestry, he realizes that “if you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.”(pg 337)
ReplyDeleteyes, as a child he was always disappointed that he couldn't fly.
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ReplyDeletePerhaps because you aren't reading a reliable text. Try the Masoretic text.
DeleteMilkman’s journey first started when he asked his friend Guitar if he “could take him to the woman who had as much to do with his future as she had his past.” (p. 36) Since he was a little boy, he was always curious about his past and had to go to great lengths to find out about it. Throughout his life, he was often “flying blind.” (p.32) He never had control over the decisions in his life and usually had people tell him what he was going to do or where he was going. Macon told Milkman, “It’s time you started learning how to work. You start Monday. After school come to my office; work a couple of hours there and learn what’s real.” (p.55) For the next 30 years, Milkman worked with his dad at his business and ran errands for him. Instead of going to college, he stayed home and helped his dad run the business. After a while, he longed for independence and wished to accomplish things on his own. He disguised his curiosity to know about his family as his greed for gold. While traveling from city to city, looking for the “gold”, Milkman was slowly stripped of his fancy attire and into more humble outerwear. He listened to each story he was told about his family and let that guide him to where he would go next. Embarking on this journey helped Milkman transform from a selfish person to a selfless, humble person. At the end of his journey, he was faced with death again , but followed Guitar’s advice, “Wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.” (p.179)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jordyn to an extent ,but I believe milkman’s journey began when he hit his father to defend his mother.From that point on he began to grow “[he] had to be a whole man and know the whole thing."page 86 From this point on we see Milkman began to unravel in a physical heroic journey . First in “fairfield cemetery,”pg 123 and confronting his mother .This forced Macon to realize that he was in a broken home. Which I believe he knew ,but not entirely until the confronting of his father .After that had taken place we see Milkman embark on a mission, which was to find out as much about his family as he possibly could .He is then introduced to circe in a sense “circe was taking care of [Milkman].”page 231 By providing milkman with information about his family .Milkman began to realize that the Dead name carried a much greater meaning than he thought. Dead meant freedom ,and he understood he understood everything that Pilate and Macon couldn’t “that’s not what he meant.” page 333 He understood why Macon was the way he was and he knew why Pilate carried her name through her ear . To Milkman everything was clear he was made humble refined if you will giving a heroic outcome of self realization and self satisfaction.
ReplyDelete
DeleteWhile i can see your viewpoint, i have to disagree. In my thinking, milkman's journey begins when he first meets pilate. Milkman prior to his meeting with pilate, lives life with little to no worrisome thoughts. During his first encounter with pilate, milkman’s ancestry is challenged when pilate says "Ain't but three Dead's alive"(pg 38). Milkman being a Dead himself, is defensive as a reaction to pilate's words.This defensiveness is out of nature and is something he himself doesn't understand,"even while he was screaming he wondered why he was suddenly so defensive-so possessive about his name"(pg38). This thought milkman has is a preamble to the ones that eventually led him into journeying to discover his family history. His life for about 30 years was colored with a blaze, carefree, unknowing attitude. He had spent his adult life unaware of the history that shaped the person he was. After the encounter with pilate, he continues to secretly visit her despite his father’s disapproval. From pilate he is able to see a side of his family, he never had the privilege of seeing with just his nuclear family. Pilate being the sister of milkman's father, she’s able to shed some light onto the history milkman’s father keeps as a hidden secret. From pilate, milkman discovers things such as his father being “a nice boy and awful good to me [ in reference to pilate] “(pg 40). This little insight pilate drops to milkman increases the desire that he has to discover more about his past. Milkman explains that he feels lost and bored with his life. As a remedy, he goes on a journey to discover his family history.
I like this. I'm curious, though, is his journey intentional intentional?
DeleteI believe his journey was intentional, but the lessons he received were definitely unintentional. Milkman was bound to undertake some type of journey throughout his lifetime due to the freedom he's awarded simply by having money and "the stick he carries". The route that the journey takes is something milkman can not plan nor does he have control over. So, fundamentally speaking, the journey is a choice he takes on not knowing the end result that will accompany it.
DeleteMilkman had always lived his life aimlessly and this all changed when he embarked a journey when we went on a search for his inheritance. His life was controlled by others and he never got to understand who he was. He was not alone as he paired up with Guitar "an older boy-wise and kind and fearless."(pg.47) Guitar was very different than Milkman in a sense that he was not rich and had interests other than women. When Milkman announced his desire to "feel the heavy white door on Not Doctor Street close behind him....hearing the catch settle into its groove one last time."(pg.163) Macon immediately shuts him down. Milkman wanted to leave the average and stale life he had and make a name for a new living name for himself. As he then learns about this missing piece of his history, this ignites this fire in him that inspires him to pursue his family past. His journey originated from him being shallow and greedy but then takes a turn as it ends with him transforming into a humble and altruistic individual. Milkman finally took off as the man he should me “If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.” (pg.337)
ReplyDeleteah, shallowness and greed :-) transform him
DeleteI agree with Ivy that milkman did embark on a journey when he was searching for his inheritance, however I think that his journey actually started when he first started talking to Pilate. by meeting pilate he learns more about the inheritance, becomes better acquaintanced with hagar and guitar. His journey was more about him finding who he is rather than the actual inheritance. throughout his journey he seemed to have end u p in the places he needed to be rather than the places he wanted to be. "I aint the one with wants. you the one want something" pg 36, milkman meets pilate for the very first time in her home, not knowing who she is. milkman has always been young and mature in everything that he did. whether it was peeing on girls, breaking hearts and being inconsiderate, and just being selfish to those around him. milkman broke off relations with Hagar through a letter stating "he signed the letter with gratitude and love" pg 99, milkman is thanking hagar for letting him use her as an object rather than wanting anything more than that. throughout his journey milkman finds more about his past and his family through the help of people from the town. "o Solomon don't leave me..." pg 49 the children of the town sing about his grandfather and his family. milkman has always looked back on life and never really knew what he was to expect, "this concentration on things behind him. almost as though there were no future to be had" pg 35, by focusing on the past he finally gets to embark on his journey to find out who he is. by the end of the book milkman becomes more mature, thankful, graceful, and understanding. guitar was always different from others, but somehow was able to fit in, he would describe himself as "a white peacock" pg266. once milkman finally finds who he is and is content with life, other than someone trying to kill him, he takes a "leap of faith" and starts to "fly" upwards, its as if he is flying towards heaven or hes actually flying.
ReplyDelete-lauren brown
Blind, and misguided, Milkman had very little direction as a child, and was used and manipulated throughout his life by his mother (breastfeed late), father (lied to him about his attempted murder, about Ruth, and used him to get the gold), and others. His journey of realization and understanding started when Milkman attempts to decide for himself, validate himself, and define himself. Milkman starting his journey during his first visit to Pilate's house makes sense, especially since it was an act of his own volition to find out more about his aunt and possibly his family, but it doesn't seem to properly show Milkman's effort to "define" himself.
ReplyDelete"By the time Milkman was fourteen he had noticed that one of his legs was shorter than the other." (Pg. 62) Milkman takes this irregularity as a flaw at first, but this is where Milkman is depicted as different, and eventually this flaw is what makes him unique. "And he danced each new dance with a stiff legged step that girls loved and other boys eventually copied. The deformity was mostly in his mind." "He favored it,..." This lead to Milkman comparing himself to his Father, "Milkman feared his father, respected him, but knew because of the leg, that he could never emulate him." From this, Milkman begins to create his personality, which greatly contrasts that of his father's, which is an example of the influence many of the characters have on Milkman.
Eventually, Milkman goes on his greedy journey to find the gold. But through his journey, which he is just another passenger going along for the ride, he is aided and assisted by many people along the way, that just so happen to be connected to him or his family. Through this little adventure, Milkman becomes self aware, retrospective, and becomes more understanding of who he is and what kind of person he wants to become, abandoning his old apathetic, misogynistic, and materialistic ways. He became better, more independent and filled with strong integrity, while also having become more connected with others. "He found himself exhilarated by simply walking the earth...his legs were like stalks, trees, a part of his body that extended down down down into the rock and soil...And he did not limp." (Pg. 281)
I think that's a vital moment for MM, as his rootedness seems to mirror that of Pilate's many years before him when she didn't (refused to?) follow her brother. Of course, one might argue that his journey doesn't really begin until he is stripped of his corporeal self, and offers Mercy to Guitar. Is it possible that in that moment MM understands that he is complicit in Pilate's death and that it is only through Mercy and surrender (though not sacrifice, because MM sacrifices very little) to air and the essential current which sustains human life that he can redeem himself (the objective materialist who pees everywhere and on everything), Robert Smith, Macon, Jake, and even Solomon in his "new" history?
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ReplyDeleteEver since Milkman was a child he has had an isolated childhood and has always wanted to go out and explore life and the different things that are out there. on (pg 32) "flying blind" refers to Milkman having no experience in how the outer world is like.(pg 222.)"unless he has money" Milkman is in search on freedom but he knows that in order for this he needs to acquire money to be free.
ReplyDelete-Ivan Guerrero
Milkman's journey begins when he defended his mother and Macon started telling Milkman a story. Then Milkman figures out how he got his nickname "My mother nursed me when I was old enough to talk, stand up, and wear knickers, and somebody saw it and laughed" pg. 78 He then started getting curious and when he went on the journey to find gold, Milkman began to find himself and about his family past. Everytime Milkman would become curious or ask questions Macon would shut him down. On pg. 50 " And you will do what I tell you to do. With or without explanations." Milkman just wanted out, he wanted to be independent on pg. 180 "He just wanted to beat a path away from his parent's past, which was also their present and which was threatening to become his present as well". His journey ends when he jumps off of the Solomon's leap like his grandfather but the difference is Milkman did take flight. Finding his family's past and himself away from his family frees him and from a selfish boy he becomes a selfless man.
ReplyDelete-Jailene Quintanilla