The Narrator In Toni Morrison's Song Of Solomon

In the novel Song Of Solomon by Toni Morrison, the story is told through a third person omniscient narrator with a male point of view. Most of the characters in the novel are looking to escape from their lives especially, the protagonist, Macon Dead III aka “Milkman”. He is influenced by how his father, Macon Dead Jr., raises him. In the first part of the novel, Milkman is materialistic which makes him believe that he needs to leave his home town in Michigan because of his greed and desire for his independence. His journey begins in the second part of the novel with his search for the gold that his father claims his Aunt Pilate stole from him. Milkman’s journey ultimately opens his eyes about the truth of his family and changes his mindset

towards his life which brings him back home.
Part one of the novel consists of Milkman’s desire to leave Michigan and gain his independence.

A main reason for his eagerness to flee from home is his father. Macon Dead Jr., Milkman’s father raised him to value objects. Morrison says in chapter 2, “Boy, you got better things to do with your time. Besides, it’s time you started ]earning how to work. You start Monday. After school come to my office; work a couple of hours there and learn what’s real. Pilate can’t teach you a thing you can use in this world. Maybe the next, but not this one. Let me tell you right now the one important thing you’ll ever need to know: Own things. And let the things you own own other things. Then you’ll own yourself and other people too. Starting Monday, I’m going to teach you how” (Morrison 55). Morrison shows here that Milkman is raised to believe that you can only be complete through the power of owning things/people because that makes you “manly”. His father’s influence on him gives him the mindset that he needs objects to be independent which ultimately leads to his departure in the second part of the novel. Milkman eventually becomes an extremely materialistic person, which makes him start to view everything in his life in a negative way, especially his relationships with other people, Morrison says, “She was the third beer. Not the first one, which the throat receives with almost tearful gratitude; nor the second, that confirms and extends the pleasure of the first. But the third, the

one you drink because it’s there, because it can’t hurt, and because what difference does it make?” (Morrison 91). Milkman shows his awful state of mind with his analogy of Hagar and Beer. Hagar is a woman whom he is sleeping with, and he seems to think of her as the 3rd beer, because they both are things that benefit him but are not significant enough to be valued. As we can see, Macon does not have a very healthy mindset towards his life which causes him to think of his life in a negative way, thanks to his father’s parenting. At the end of part one, Milkman schemes with his good friend Guitar to break into his Aunt Pilate’s house so that he can steal the gold that his father said Pilate stole from him. Once he successfully secures the bag hanging from the ceiling of pilate’s house, he quickly realizes that the bag is filled with bones. His plan failed, which gives him his final reason to leave.
In the second part of the novel milkman embarks on his trek from his home. He still has the same negative outlook on his life in Michigan, and is greedier than ever after his failed attempt to steal his father’s gold back. Milkman visits Danville, Pennsylvania first because Pilate said she never took the gold from the cave Macon and her found it in. When he arrives and finds no gold he instantly thinks she was lying to him the whole time. So he assumes she hid the gold somewhere on her way to Virginia. Once he gets to Shalimar, Virginia, he immediately is criticized for his snobby attitude that has come from selfish attitude that he has had his whole life. He realizes that maybe they are right, maybe they do have a point. Shortly after being criticized he hears a song being sung by the children in the streets that goes, “O Solomon don’t leave me here
Cotton balls to choke me O Solomon don’t leave me here Buckra’s arms to yoke me Solomon done fly, Solomon done gone Solomon cut across the sky, Solomon gone home” ( Morrison 303).

Upon hearing it, Milkman thinks that this song is about his family, and his thoughts are verified when he meets a woman named Circe who took care of his family in the past and he asks her if the song was indeed about his family. She said yes and then he realizes that this song can relate to him because his grandfather made a difficult decision to “fly” meaning to be free which then allows him to be “home”. Milkman also frees himself when he embarks on his journey and he returns home when he learns that he may have been the person to blame instead of his father because everyone chooses what they believe in, regardless of how you were raised. At this point in the novel, Milkman understands this and finally returns

home.
Milkman left his hometown because his father raised him to value objects and not to respect others which drives him to become a materialistic man who only thinks about himself. On his journey his mindset changes, from blaming others for his materialistic mindset to blaming himself, which brings him home.