Symbolism Of Flight In Toni Morrison's Song Of Solomon

Song of Solomon and the Symbol of Flight
Toni Morrison’s begins Song of Solomon with the flight of Robert Smith, from this point forward Morrison continues to create instances of flight throughout the novel and ends it with the flight of Milkman Dead. The motif of flying as a means of escape is one that appears frequently throughout the novel. Various characters throughout Morrison’s novel attempt, and some succeed to fly away. Some Characters, like Pilate “fly” in a different way for different means; Milkman states, she can fly without ever leaving the ground. While all the characters that fly in the novel are trying to escape some form of oppression, they in the process end up emotionally scarring the ones around them.
“At 3:00 pm on Wednesday

Smith stood at the edge of Mercy Hospital's roof wearing silk wings and preaching to the crowd below that he was going to fly away. Unfortunately Smith did not make it out of Michigan. Smith’s attempt to fly lead ultimately to his death, but this was no suicide. Death released Smith, and symbolizes his escape from community, from this world. Although this scene is not written and explained in detail, this is the first instance in which Morrison uses flight to symbolize freedom. This flight is significantly different from the flight at the end of the book, Milkman’s flight. “You want my life? Milkman was not shouting now. You need it? Here. Without wiping away the tears, taking a deep breath, or even bending his knees- he leaped.”( Morrison, 337) At the end of the novel, Milkman and Pilate are burying the bones of the

He goes on a journey to find gold and finds something far more valuable, truth, realization, and freedom from his old self. Milkman is money driven and when he hears of a possibility that his Aunt, Pilate, is hiding Gold he attempts to rob her. Upon finding out that Pilate is hiding a bag of bones, not gold, Milkman sets out on a journey to find the real treasure. He travels by plane, a physical flight. When he reaches Danville, Pennsylvania, he finds an old friend of his father’s, Reverend Cooper, who tells Milkman stories about his father, Macon Dead I, and Circe. “Milkman felt a glow listening to a story come from this man”(Morrison, 231) Milkman feels his first change, a love for the people he was, and wished to be close to. Reverend Cooper goes on to tell Milkman that the wealthy white family Circe worked for, the Butlers, were the ones responsible for Macon Dead I’s murder. Milkman makes his way toward the Butler mansion, inside he sees a woman, “so old she was colorless”(Morrison, 240) standing at the top of the staircase. She tells Milkman that her name is Circe. She tells Milkman stories of his grandfather, that his name was really Jake, and that he married an Indian woman named Sing. She also reveals to Milkman that after being murdered and buried, Macon Dead I’s body “floated up”(Morrison, 245) out of its grave and was