Flight as a Literal and Metaphorical Symbol in Song of Solomon by Toni

In stock of Solomon, a invigorated by Toni Morrison, shoot is used as a literal and metaphorical symbol of escape. Each individual character that chooses to fly in the b riskiness is flying away from a hardship or a ostensibly im thinkable situation. However, by choosing to escape, one is also deliberately choosing to abandon family and confederacy members. The first reference to this idea is found in the wises epigraph The fathers may soar/ And the children may know their names, which introduces the idea that while leak can be an escape, it can also be harmful to those go away behind. However, while the male characters who achieve flight do so by abandoning their female partners and family, the female characters master flight without abandoning those they love. Throughout the novel, charitable flight is accepted as a natural occurrence, while those who doubt human flight, such as Milkman, are viewed as abnormal and are disjointed from the community. It is only when Milk man begins to believe in flight as a natural occurrence that he is welcomed back into the community and sheds his feelings of isolation. The novel begins with the account of Robert Smith, an redress agent who had promised to take offand fly away on his sustain wings (Morrison 3). Standing on the roof of Mercy Hospital eroding blue silk wings, Smith proclaims to a growing crowd that he leave alone fly (Morrison 5). Unfortunately, he is ultimately unable to take flight and go to his death among the crowd. This is the first image of attempted flight in the novel and the first glimpse of flight being viewed as twain possible and natural. Those who had gathered to view Smiths flight did not outcry out to him or attempt to prevent his leap, but instead advance him, implying that t... ...ers to and rides the air, and whether he reenacts the suicide of Robert Smith or delivers himself into the killing arms of his brother, Milkman escapes through and through flight (Morrison 337). D uring the long period of time in which Milkman doubts human flight, he is essentially shunned from his community. However, by accepting human flight as both a natural and possible occurrence, Milkman achieves acceptance. In actuality, flight as a means of escape is conveyed as a selfish act, harming all those left behind. Furthermore, in reference to Robert Smith and Milkman, death, not flight, was what caused them to essentially escape. In Song of Solomon, flight comes across as an act of desperation, in which those involved would risk anything to escape their troubled lives. Only when you surrendered yourself to the air could you truly escape and shape freedom (Morrison 337).