The Two Realities In Toni Morrison's Song Of Solomon

The Two Realities of Song of Solomon
The discrepancy between one’s internal reality and the reality of the outside world holds as a central issue throughout Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon. Through the characters of Guitar Bains and Milkman Dead, the violent and oppressive world facing early 1960s African Americans is portrayed. The two friends struggle with the gap between their own reality and the culture of conflict they must face; however, Milkman’s upper middle class childhood comes into its own conflict when interacting with Guitar’s decidedly less comfortable upbringing. Though Guitar’s path through the novel clearly constructs a counterstory to Milkman’s own journey, Guitar clearly plays a more significant role than simply that

of a contrast. While Milkman makes choices which ultimately lead him from internal selfishness to an enlightened state of outward awareness, Guitar chooses to live a life which he believes to be selfless, but ultimately remains too caught in his own hatred of whites to break free and truly help his fellow African Americans.
Both Milkman and Guitar begin the novel as two fairly selfish and internal beings. They search for both wealth incessantly, Milkman due to his middle class childhood and oppressive father, and Guitar in order to battle the whites who continue to oppress the blacks. Milkman’s internal narration while Christmas shopping in a Rexall drugstore shows the reader his tendency to price those around him. His father is worth shaving equipment, his mother a box of chocolates. He alienates himself from his family by adding endless worth to his own being, while commoditizing them. He details his relationship with Hagar, saying, “When he first took her in his arms, Hagar was a vain and somewhat distant creature. He liked to remember it that way— that he took her in his arms— but in truth it was she who had called him back into the bedroom and stood there smiling while she unbuttoned her blouse” (p. 92). His view of reality is warped by values; he lessens Hagar’s value by adding to his in this memory that he began the sexual encounter, when in reality Hagar was in control of the power at the time.
Guitar exhibits the same desire for wealth as he concocts a plan to kill four young white girls, following an attack by white men which killed four young black girls. He decides on the weaponry he needs, but notes that he will also need money. When Milkman proposes that the two steal Pilate’s gold, Guitar is ecstatic, and immediately begins to dream of what he can buy— however, his mindset flips, and he notes that he would like to buy nice things for his family. Guitar has a strong desire to act for others in a selfless manner, but as he speaks this desire out loud, Milkman begins to feel off center, as he has grown up with luxury and cannot empathize with Guitar. Milkman’s inability to comprehend Guitar allows Guitar’s mind to move elsewhere, back to the Seven Days, and he switches again to thinking of TNT.
The two also attempt to exact revenge singlemindedly throughout the novel. Guitar’s first interaction with a white person in the novel comes from the condescending nurse of Mercy Hospital, who asks him to run an errand for her very slowly, as if he was too stupid to understand. Guitar talks back to her, saying she spelled “admissions” wrong, but she is gone before he speaks up. The narrator notes, of Guitar’s encounter, “The North was new to him and he had just begun to learn he could speak up to white people. But she’d already gone” (p. 7). Here begins Guitar’s journey: one not of self knowledge and understanding, but rather one which wishes to revenge the whites who oppress the blacks. Even as a six year old, Guitar is learning to challenge the notion that whites are better than, or deserve more than, blacks; indeed, even as a child he can spell better than an adult, white nurse. However, because the reader sees the nurse walk away, it is understood that Guitar’s specific journey will be futile. Guitar’s involvement with the Seven Days group hinders any chance of his move toward magnanimity and away from his own ego. While the Seven Days group truly desires to fight black oppression, the nature of their group stimulates and continues their own oppression. Though the group has no fear of acting, their actions depend on what the whites do. By creating this flawed system, the Seven Days cannot move forward, but rather simply endure as a reaction. As Milkman advances on his journey and in his worldview, Guitar is stuck in stasis.
Pilate’s role in Milkman’s life is incredibly impactful as she teaches him the importance of human love and family history, and as importantly, Guitar leads Milkman to Pilate. Pilate’s unending compassion for her family is depicted when Hagar says, “Some of my days were hungry ones” (p. 48). This statement has an immediate and profound effect on both Pilate and Reba; they are torn to pieces at the thought of Hagar’s suffering. Milkman had not known that kind of love previously, and as he interacts more and more with Pilate, he comes to understand and desire it, where, throughout the book, he had rejected it— sexually with Hagar, and in family Ruth. Guitar was able to lead Milkman to this healing love; however, Milkman cannot do the same for him, as he is too selfish and internalized for much of the novel. As the two sit at a bar, Milkman tries to communicate his struggle dealing with the fact that he hit his father. When Guitar attempts to empathize with Milkman, he tells a story of his own, and Milkman tunes him out until he is ready to talk about Milkman again.
The imbalance in their relationship is beneficial toward Milkman, but eventually pushes Guitar down an aggressively violent path, rather than following Milkman’s move toward selflessness.

Guitar seeks out community within the Seven Days, and because he finds friends in this group, he acts as they do and murders. However, when Guitar comes after Milkman, it is clear he was only looking for someone to teach him to love as Pilate did to Milkman, and also as clear is that Guitar wished his teacher to be Milkman. He first leaves a message with Solomon in Virginia, asking Solomon to tell his “friend” that his day was coming (p. 264). When Milkman walks back into town after meeting with Susan, he runs into Guitar. Guitar addresses Milkman by the name “my man” (p.295), then continues to hold a conversation with him, though he has stated that he intends to kill him. Milkman proceeds to ask him why he left a message warning Milkman he was going to try to kill him, and Guitar responds, “‘You’re my friend. It’s the least I could do for a friend’” (p. 298). As the novel closes and Guitar and Milkman face each other in what seems like a fight to the death, Guitar points a gun at Milkman. When Milkman sees him, the narrator writes, of Guitar, “‘My man,’ he murmured to himself. “‘My main man.’ He put the rifle on the ground and stood up” (p. 337). Though Guitar repeatedly runs into Milkman while he is trying to kill him, each interaction he reiterates that Milkman is his friend, his main man. As the novel ends, Guitar even puts down his weapon. Guitar clearly desires friendship from Milkman and views Milkman as a friend, as someone who may be able to give him the kind of healing love he needs. His move toward violence and attempting to murder Milkman indicates he does not feel the love her desires from Milkman, but it is significant that the novel closes with Guitar putting down his gun. Though the ending is ambiguous, the possibility arises that Milkman’s newfound

selflessness could lead Guitar on his own journey outside of his ego.
If a central issue in Song of Solomon is the discrepancy between the internal self and the struggles of the surrounding world, the characters Milkman Dead and Guitar Bains provide two stories reacting to this harsh reality and attempting to come to terms with it. As Milkman journeys through the novel, his worldview changes by both love— given by Pilate— and knowledge— of his family and their history, and he eventually moves toward a more selfless, outward orientated life. Guitar, contrastingly, is unable to find unconditional love, as he has no Pilate, nor does he find knowledge about his identity, as he has no father to help him begin his journey. He cannot become a selfless, outward thinking adult. While the novel ends with the threat of a death, it is possible that Milkman’s move toward’s selflessness will be able to save Guitar, as Guitar puts the rifle down. Morrison leaves an ambiguous ending so they story may become allegorical to struggling African Americans, and she provides two paths to choose from— a movement toward outward thinking and altruism versus an aggressive, though understandable, desire for violence against those who have wronged.