The Driving Factors Behind Milkman's Journey in Song of Solomon

At first glance, Milkman Dead embarks on the quest that ultimately leads to his salvation because of a selfish greed for money. In fact, there exists a set of specific conditions that place Milkman in the position to find his history and his sense of spirituality. It is due to a breakdown of the traditional African-American structure: Family, friends, and community that Milkman is able to go on his journey in Song of Solomon. Morrison said that every one of her novels is, "About love and how to survive - not to make a living - but how to survive whole in a world where we are all of us, in some measure victims of something" (Bakerman 60). Milkman is a victim of a dissolved support system, and as a result, he is free to journey and to discover his heritage and spiritual self.

The void inside Milkman Dead originates well before he is even born. His father, Macon Dead II, lost his father at a young age to a rich, white farmer, and his sister to his own selfishness. His mother, Ruth Foster Dead, had an unnatural relationship with her father, and fancied herself as a white aristocrat because of her father's status as the most important black man in town. The past of his parents leads to the reality of Milkman's childhood and adulthood. Even as a child, Milkman becomes accustomed to feeling hunted. While out in his father's Packard checking out land for a new acquisition, a six-year-old Milkman has to relieve himself. His sister Lena takes him into the woods to go, and after she leaves to pick flowers, Milkman is startled by a noise behind him and turns around, accidentally soiling his sister's clothes. "He didn't mean it. It happened before he was through...It was becoming a habit - this concentration on things behind him. Almost as though there were no future to be had" (Morrison 35).

Milkman's father, Macon Dead II, is a bitter black man who has managed to get his family into a position of wealth, all the while losing the respect of the community he lives in. He marries into the richest and most prominent black household in the town, only to enter into a loveless marriage. Macon II's deep resentment comes from the circumstances under which his father died. Macon's father owned a farm that young Macon and Pilate enjoyed growing up on. The land was sacred to the family, who knew the importance of owning your own land. When Macon I refuses to sell his land, a rich white man shoots him dead in front of his kids. Their caregiver, Circe, provided young Macon and Pilate with some comfort, however, the two young kids ran off on their own. From that point on, Macon II knew the importance of money and stature in the community. "Charlie Scruggs has suggested that when Macon Dead kills the old white man in the cave...Macon becomes "the person he killed: a white man hoarding gold"" (Otten 50).

Macon II achieves his goal of wealth, however, it comes at an expense. The community detests Macon, who is always knocking on their doors and harassing them for rent payments. Even Guitar's mother tells Milkman directly what she thinks of Macon II, "A nigger in business is a terrible thing to see. A terrible, terrible thing to see" (Morrison 23). Macon II also is burdened by his contempt for his wife, Ruth. "Solid, rumbling, likely to erupt without prior notice, Macon kept each member of his family awkward with fear. His hatred of his wife glittered and sparked in every word he spoke to her" (Morrison 10). All of these emotions and distractions affect Milkman in a way he cannot describe, but which is infinitely responsible for the way he has evolved as a human being.

Ruth Foster Dead is the first black woman to give birth in an all-white hospital. While Ruth is giving birth and Smith is flying, Pilate sings the song that will prove so important to Milkman at the end of the novel. "The song is key to Milkman's quest and illustrates the function of the African-American women in passing on stories to future generations" (Wilentz 63). Milkman's birth is a dubious distinction in that it occurred on the same day Robert Smith decided to "fly" to his death. The connection between Milkman and the dead insurance agent is important, as the young man who was born on the day of Smith's death shared a similar dream of flying. "Mr. Smith's blue silk wings must have left their mark, because when the little boy discovered, at four, the same thing Mr. Smith had learned earlier - that only birds and airplanes could fly - he lost all interest in himself" (Morrison 9). "It is no accident that Milkman Dead is the first black born in Southside Mercy Hospital or that his birth is triggered ironically by the fall of black life insurance agent Robert Smith. Both signal the dismemberment of the black community" (Otten 45).

Ruth's status as the only daughter of the most prominent black man in town made her unpopular with the rest of the women in the town. Ruth sees herself as a rich member of the aristocracy, when in reality she is the daughter of a black doctor who cannot even send his patients to the best hospital in town. "Ruth Foster Dead is herself helpless, abandoned, and immobilized by the death of her father and the scorn of her husband" (Bakerman 560). The community sees through her transparent personality, and their contempt for her only grows when she marries Macon Dead.

Ruth is unable to develop into a strong woman, as she lost her mother at a young age. Macon told Milkman about the inappropriate behavior between Ruth and Dr. Foster. Dr Foster's "relationship with his daughter, Ruth, became increasingly embarrassing after his wife's death. Even at sixteen she insisted that he sit on her bed and "plant a kiss on her lips" each night, and she responded with "an ecstacy inappropriate to the occasion" (23). He (Macon) even admitted his fear that Lena and First Corinthians might not have been his own children" (Otten 47).

Ruth's quest for love in the wrong places is converted to her son after the death of her father and evolution of a loveless marriage. Ruth subjects her son to an unnatural breast-feeding ritual until he is approximately four years old. "It was one of her secret indulgences - the one that involved her son - and part of the pleasure it gave her came from the room in which she did it" (Morrison 13). Ruth felt that while breast-feeding her son, "She felt him. His restraint, his courtesy, his indifference, all of which pushed her into fantasy. She had the distinct impression that his lips were pulling from her a thread of light" (Morrison 13). One day when Freddie happens upon Ruth and Milkman during the act is the day that the community bestowed the name "Milkman" upon Macon Dead III. "When the yardman Freddie witnesses one of Milkman's afternoon sucklings, his comments reflect both the knowledge of this traditional practice and the dominant culture's view that the experience is somehow obscene" (Wilentz 68).

Milkman is almost a joke to his community, and everyone in it loathes his parents. He is the victim of his parents' circumstances, and as a result, Milkman never feels as if the community envelops him with the support it might otherwise have done. When Milkman is "forced to where velvet suits to meet his parents' pretensions, he is ostracized by other blacks" (Otten 46).

When traveling through town with his friend Guitar, Milkman is thrown out of a bar because of who his father is. Guitar and Milkman skip school one day to go to Feather's Pool Hall on Tenth Street. When they enter the pool hall, the owner looks directly at Milkman and says, "Get him out of here," and proceeds to mock the young man for reasons beyond his control, "He ain't even old enough to have wet dreams" (Morrison 57). The aversion society has towards Milkman pushes him further into the protection of his friend Guitar, and eventually into the guidance of Pilate.

It is only when he is investigating his roots in the south that Milkman feels the sense of community as it often applies to African-Americans. "Almost by accident, in the process of searching, Milkman begins feeling a connection to the people around him. For the first time, he feels a connection to the community" (David 84). The community Milkman finds in Virginia provides him with the stability and support of community he did not feel in Michigan. Milkman's discovery of the story of his great-grandfather, Solomon, "Thus represents Milkman's discovery of his membership in ever more inclusive communities: his family, Afro-Americans, all Blacks...Milkman finds his connection with his ancestors as he acknowledges his connection with his contemporaries; he finds community through community" (Blake 78-79).

"Brought up by parents disenfranchised from other blacks and severely warped...Milkman...unconsciously seeks Guitar Bains" (Otten 47). Milkman meets Guitar while he is in the sixth grade, and Guitar is in high school. Their friendship deepens early through Guitar's pity for his friend after the incident at Feather's and Milkman feels pity towards Guitar after he learns the story of his father's death. Guitar is so traumatized by the events surrounding his father's death; he is repulsed by anything with sugar in it. When Milkman asks him why Guitar won't eat anything with sugar, he answers, "Since I was little. Since my father got sliced up in a sawmill and his boss came by and gave us kids some candy. Divinity. A big sack of divinity. His wife made it special for us..." (Morrison 61). This taste of white people put a permanent hatred of all white people into the heart of Guitar Bains, eventually leading him to join the Seven Days and causing the destruction of his friendship with Milkman Dead.

While Guitar becomes obsessed with reparations against white people for the deaths of black people, Milkman realizes that he has no passion, "As he later ponders his life, Milkman realizes that everything bores him: money, the city, politics, and the racial problems that consume other African-Americans" (Spark Notes). The growing tensions between Milkman and Guitar arise out of Milkman's disinterest in the retributions committed by the Seven Days. Guitar is passionate about the group, feeling it is his only way to pay back white people for the death of his father and the other murdered blacks across America. "They are indifferent as rain," Guitar describes, "But when a Negro child, Negro woman, or Negro man is killed by whites and nothing is done about it by their law and their courts, this society selects a similar victim at random, and they execute him or her in a similar manner if they can" (Morrison 154). Milkman's only reaction to Guitar's revelation is fear and repulsion. "Milkman held himself very still at the time Guitar spoke. Now he felt tight, shriveled, and cold" (Morrison 155). Milkman cannot understand why Guitar and the rest of the Seven Days do not track down the murderers, and instead murder innocent people. Guitar senses Milkman's distaste for his life mission, and the bond between the two men is never the same.

Milkman still feels for his friend, and after Macon tells Milkman about his suspicions about Pilate having gold, he offers to split the finds with his friend if he helps him to find it. The knowledge of gold is the literal springboard for the journey that leads Milkman to his heritage and spiritual self. "Milkman needs to go somewhere, although he hangs around that town for a long time - not listening to what he hears, not paying any attention to what it is" (McKay 471). After discovering that the sack in Pilate's house did not contain gold, Milkman travels to the cave Pilate and Macon fled to after their father was murdered at Lincoln's Heaven.

When Milkman learns there is no gold there, but finds clues as to his true heritage, he follows the trail of clues, forgetting about the initial reason for the trip. "Milkman's unraveling of his family history hinges on the decoding of the folksong Pilate sings at his birth" (Wilentz 64). Guitar notices his friend does not return and hunts Milkman down with the intent of killing him, believing that his friend Milkman would take the money himself and run. When Milkman is embarking on the most important journey of his life, his friend is not only absent, but hunting him down to kill him. The dissolution of the friendship between Milkman and Guitar is the final release that allows Milkman the freedom to pursue his heritage and find his home.

After completing his journey and returning to the town with Pilate to bury her father, Milkman is finally able to fly, just as his great-grandfather did, to return to Africa. Milkman's journey for home and spiritual being is completed, and the young man who learned at four he could never fly does indeed fly away a complete being. "To fall and to fly become the same act as Milkman acknowledges when he "leaps" at his brother Guitar Bains in the conclusion of the novel" (Otten 45). Macon "Milkman" Dead would have been unable to complete this journey, however, if it were not for the lack of a support system that is typical among African-Americans. Milkman's lack of a stable, loving family, supporting community, and strong friendships, frees him to follow his path home and achieve his dream.

Works Cited
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David, Ron. Toni Morrison Explained: A Reader's Road Map to the Novels. (New York:
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McKay, Nellie. "An Interview with Toni Morrison." Contemporary Literature. 24.4 (1983):
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Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New York: Penguin Group, 1977.
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Wilentz, Gay. "Civilization Underneath: African Heritage as Cultural Discourse in Toni
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