Song of Solomon

The last three sentences of chapter 12 are very significant: "He was grinning. His eyes were shining. He was as eager and happy as he had ever been in his life". Milkman seems to finally know what he is looking for: the story of his family's past. Milkman has recently changed how he views his mother, father, Pilate and Hagar, and his life in general, and seems to be considering things from a different perspective than ever before. Do you think that this change in Milkman's thinking caused him to realize what he is looking for? Did he always know that he was searching for his family history or was it covered up by his desire for the gold? Did he ever really want the gold?

Song of Solomon

In the end of chapter 9 Milkman gets confronted by Lena, and she accuses of him of turning into his father. Now that she has pointed that out are there any previous scenes that you can think of where Milkman resembles Macon and his bad qualities/traits? Do you think that it is inevitable for Milkman to turn into Macon because he hasn't been able to fly and be free? Why or why not?

Song of Solomon

In Song of Solomon, the author uses surrealist symbolism in order to convey overarching themes throughout the story(i.e ghosts and Pilate's lack of a bellybutton). What do you think the most significant symbol is, and what concept does it represent?