Summary During a Sunday afternoon conversation with Milkman at Mary’s bar, Guitar tells Milkman that he took Hagar home after he found her at his place following her aborted attempt on Milkman’s life. Milkman is uncomfortable talking about Hagar, especially after Guitar asks him what he did to hurt her […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 6Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 5
Summary Milkman goes to Guitar’s apartment to wait for Hagar, who has stalked him for the last six months, ever since he sent her the Christmas note breaking off their relationship, and has threatened to kill him. Having survived her bungled attempts on his life thus far, Milkman has resigned […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 5Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 4
Summary In the early ’60s, during his last-minute Christmas shopping at a Rexall drugstore, Milkman contemplates how to break off his twelve-year relationship with Hagar. He reminisces about the beginning of their relationship following a domestic crisis involving Reba and one of her male friends. Milkman decides to write Hagar […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 4Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 3
Summary Spanning a period of ten years, Chapter 3 traces Milkman’s life from age twelve to twenty-two. The chapter begins and ends with conversations between Milkman and Guitar. Milkman works at his father’s real-estate office and likes his job because it gives him more time to visit Hagar at Pilate’s […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 3Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 2
Summary It is the summer of 1936, and the Dead family is on their ritual Sunday drive through town in their green Packard. Although the drive affords Macon little pleasure, he enjoys the opportunity to flaunt his affluence and prosperity. Ruth enjoys showing off her family, and Lena and Corinthians […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 2Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 1
Summary On February 18, 1931, about fifty black people have gathered to watch Robert Smith — a black insurance agent who works for the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company — prepare to fly, using homemade blue silk wings, from the roof of Mercy Hospital across Lake Superior. The group […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: Chapter 1Summary and Analysis Epigraph
Traditionally, an epigraph — an introductory citation that suggests the theme of a literary work — is a brief quotation from a renowned literary source. However, in Song of Solomon, Morrison defies tradition by creating her own epigraph, one that focuses on flight away from something or flight toward a […]
Read more Summary and Analysis EpigraphCharacter List
Milkman (Macon Dead III) The first “colored baby” born at Mercy Hospital. Milkman is the youngest child and only son of Ruth and Macon Dead. Torn between his father’s materialistic values and his aunt Pilate’s unconventional lifestyle, Milkman — prompted by his father’s greed — embarks on a quest to […]
Read more Character ListAbout Song of Solomon
Song of Solomon is Morrison’s third novel and one of her most commercially successful. Published in 1977, the novel — tentatively titled Milkman Dead — was condensed in Redbook. It was later chosen as a main selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, which had not selected a novel written by a […]
Read more About Song of SolomonBook Summary
Song of Solomon explores the quest for cultural identity. Based on the African-American folktale about enslaved Africans who escape slavery by flying back to Africa, it tells the story of Macon “Milkman” Dead, a young man alienated from himself and estranged from his family, his community, and his historical and […]
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