What does the word “fly” mean in literature? Ovid, a Greek-Roman chronicler dating back more than 2000 years, shows the failure of flying through the fates Icarus (the victim of hubris) and Phaeton. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison was published in 1977. The opening and closing images are of an attempted flight. This image has many paradoxical connotations such as failure and success, heroism versus cowardice, or life versus death. Morrison has left open the interpretation of the reason behind Robert Smith and Milkman leaping into the sky. The readers learn that Smith and Milkman are not flying because they do not know why. They discover this through Milkman’s and Guitar’s observations and dialogue about the ostentatious, grounded peacock. “The shit weights you down,” is the conclusion (179). In order to fully understand the meaning of flying in this book, it is necessary to define this “shit”. Images of flight in Song of Solomon reflect past, present and future elements: an appreciation of origins, escape from social domestication and resurrection of human spirit.
No matter whether it is a bird of plane, everything that soars must start on the ground. Therefore, in order to fly, you must first have roots. Milkman, as soon as he realizes humans can’t fly, separates himself from his community. Milkman does not care about his relationships with Guitar Bains. He also has no interest in his aunt Pilate who is enchanted. Milkman gets upset when the Deads’ Packard slowly rolls through the streets of New York on Sundays. He can only see out the back window. This illustrates Milkman’s fatal flaw: he devalues the past and tries to grasp what is coming. “Riding backward made him feel uneasy.” He kneels to view the scenery as it passes, but “he was uncomfortable” when he was looking out the rear window. It was as if he were flying blind. Not knowing where he went – only where he’d been – made him feel uncomfortable. It is better to be comfortable with the past than to feel uncomfortable.
In her dream, Pilate encounters her father. The father says, “You’re not going to be able to fly and leave your body behind” (147). Jake’s advice suggests that one will only be able to fly after all earthly issues are resolved. Pilate, however, has yet to interred her father’s bones. Pilate can only fly after she bury her father’s remains on Solomon’s Leap.
Milkman’s desire to know the origins of both his name and his family is opposed by his desire to stay ignorant. He finds that ignorance brings him a sense of superficial security and happiness. Milkman’s first flight in an airplane is a flimsy illusion. Milkman still believes that freedom is outside reality and separate from his history. Milkman’s past is the air that keeps him afloat.
Milkman’s “shit”, which is materialism and vanity, keeps him from being able to fly. Milkman will only be able to fly when he lets go of the things in his life that make him think negatively. These include identity, culture and money. Peacocks are a symbol of domestication in society. The peacock can only soar without restriction once it releases the ornate, heavy feathers from its tail. Macon Dead, who is mocking Pilate by telling anecdotes about a baby snake that ate the caretaker of its pet, also tells Milkman: “the only thing you need to do in your life is own things.” Macon Dead wasn’t born rich, so to get to the top, he needed to work and be ambitious. Milkman on the other had been born wealthy, but took his wealth for granted. Macon Dead has been corrupted to the point that money is his freedom. “The only true freedom is” (163). When Milkman writes “gratitude”, he also includes money as part of a breakup note to Hagar. Money is neither freedom nor liberator, and this is especially true when compared to love. Money may be the basis of human law, but the sky’s statute does not recognize the value of materialism. Milkman’s wealth and possessions are rendered useless as Milkman’s journey progresses. His fortune is not the gold of the past, but its people and history. Pilate understood, through his disregard of her hair and social conventions, that she had no value for anything on earth. The only way Milkman can fly is to remove the materialistic and vanity weight from his back.
Pilate’s birds, who carry her name through the air even after she died, still soar, suggesting a spiritual rebirth. Those with pure spirits will not be able to die. Pilate, like Christ, is born, lives, and dies. She enters this world by entering her mother’s dead womb. She flies. Milkman sees Pilate’s death in a similar light: “Now, he understood why he loved his wife so much.” “She could fly, without ever leaving ground” (336). Pilate, like Christ, was born with no bellybutton. She eats whatever she grows. And she knows her origins. Macon Dead is a social being, rather than an earthling. Robert Smith compared his planned flight from Mercy to Lake Superior to Christ s journey. Smith’s flight from Mercy indicates that Smith did not wish to be dependent on society anymore, and he chose to fly to Lake Superior. Lake Superior represents heaven or haven. Christ was crucified and condemned by the Jewish people for his claim to be God. However, he rose from the grave and ascended into heaven. Flight is a form of resurrection. Milkman knows that after Guitar has killed Pilate he will only be able fly in death like Solomon and Pilate. He asks Guitar “You want to my life?” You want it? Here” (337). He jumps over the cliff. Milkman is able to ride the air if he surrenders himself. Pilate’s rooted flights is born out of her knowledge of and understanding of the mixed feelings of hatred, love, faith, anguish and anger that define her existence and the existence of her people. Milkman, in his quest for freedom, finally takes to the skies.
When one tries to fly alone, without the knowledge of history and true love, he or she is not only capable killing others, but also his/her own culture and identity. Milkman cannot see the Future unless he can remember and reconcile the past. Milkman stares death down in its catlike, guitar-like eyes. Knowing that love can be a burden and oppression or a source of freedom, Milkman sacrifices everything to love. Song of Solomon’s final image of a flight does not have a clear conclusion. It is more important to decide whether he is flying or dying, rather than whether he survives.
