A Quest for Ancestry
We’ve discussed Song of Solomon as a hero’s journey novel, and I definitely agree with this idea. Milkman is essentially going on a quest for manhood and ancestry. Before he embarks on his quest, Milkman is essentially a twelve year old in a man’s body. He’s immature, passive, and incredibly self-centered, all qualities that are reflected in Milkman and Guitar’s adventure in stealing from Pilate. Instead of simply brushing off the embarrassing end result, Milkman chose to learn from it, and in further pursuing the gold he was further pursuing growth and development. Journeying to Pennsylvania gave him a pride and appreciation for his ancestry, a stark contrast to the hate he’d harboured for his father all his life. It also gave Milkman his first taste of how racism affects him and his family. This development is important because, due to his privilege, Milkman never really had to deal with racism and thus never cared to take a stand against it. Finding out that the white family wh...