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Song of Solomon Mind Map (Naming/Names :silhouette: (Even though they out…

- - - - To his father Milkman isn't a complete person, :moneybag: Milkman is only something that can keep Macon Dead's legacy alive. (This is also proved by the passing down of his name :silhouette:)
    - - To his mother, Milkman is not entirely a real person as well. He is the result of her desire to become closer to her husband, but now that her desire has vanished, Milkman's purpose seems unfulfilled and useless to her. :moneybag:
  - - - Milkman claims that he is trapped at home due to financial reasons and when he leaves he does not want to be in debt to his family, particularly his father.
        
        "He wanted the money—desperately, he believed—
        but other than making tracks out of the city, far away from
        Not Doctor Street, and Sonny’s Shop, and Mary’s Place,
        and Hagar, he could not visualize a life that much different
        from the one he had. New people. New places. Command.
        That was what he wanted in his life" (180). :moneybag:
    - - Milkman had been spoiled from a young age and this can be traced back to his mother. Ruth wanted to have some source of happiness after her father's death, and after Milkman's birth had no benefit to her relationship with Macon Dead, as a result she babied him. Milkman developed a reliance on Ruth and Macon, trapping himself in their home. :silhouettes:
      - Lena's anger developed from Milkman's (and other men's) constant taking advantage of her and her sister. Milkman doesn't recognize the women in his life as people, and finally, when the last positive outcome of Milkman's overbearing masculinity died, Lena told him the truth. :woman:
- - - - Milkman argues that those who are not committing the crime are innocent, even if they do benefit from racism. A lot of white people are making sacrifices for African Americans so killing at random is dangerous.
    - - Guitar argues back that even if there are some white people standing up for African Americans, that many people have unnatural behaviors and that many people kill for the fun of it. This means they have an ignorance for moral consequences and the only consequences they will obey are direct.
    - - Porter implies that his hatred for Macon Dead is rooted in the amount of times Macon has taken advantage of him and the African American race to fulfill his own greed. :moneybag:
- - - - Porter attempts to escape :airplane: from his current situation in life by almost jumping off a building. In this moment he demonstrates men's power over women, and how women's role in life is to serve men.
    - - Fake roses symbolize how Milkman does not view women as real people outside of their service to him. Now that the last benefit of Milkman's masculinity has died, Lena proclaims she is done serving him.
      - Is it Milkman's fault that he has been brought up spoiled and now relies on women? :earth_africa:
- - - - "Black people were viewed as a contagion. Redlining went beyond FHA--backed loans and spread to the entire mortgage industry, which was already rife with racism, excluding black people from most legitimate means of obtaining a mortgage" (Coates 7).
        
        This is evidence of the racism against African Americans in the housing market :earth_africa:. Macon Dead took advantage of this lucrative system to gain profit. If Macon Dead didn't invent the racist system but is using it for his own good, is he innocent? This creates a negative reputation for him and is forced upon his family :silhouette: :silhouettes:.
      - "the deer, there, dead in the ravine--the bees lathing combs of honey to its larynx, lungs, and breast. This is the idol of idle-- the bees harvesting honey in the good and rotting meat" (Reeves)>
        
        Although racism is plaguing the housing market, Macon Dead creates a positive for himself in this situation by benefiting from the racism :earth_africa:
  - - - Milkman's spoiled nature is evident from his early childhood, as his mom :silhouettes: babies him in hopes to create a source of happiness for herself :moneybag:. His spoiled nature is also supported by his reliance on women :woman:
    - - "It was this woman, whom he would have knocked senseless, who shuffled into the police station and did a little number for the cops—opening herself up wide for their amusement, their pity, their scorn, their mockery, their disbelief, their meanness, their whimsy, their annoyance, their power, their anger, their boredom—whatever would be useful to her and to himself" (210).
        
        Even though Milkman acted out of greed, Pilate's reaction that saved Milkman and herself enforces the role that women had to play in Milkman's life :woman:.
- - - - Milkman tries to grapple with the identity forced upon him.
    - - Milkman's father, Macon Dead is known and generally disliked for taking advantage of people of his own race to further his career (:earth_africa:). As a result of his father's reputation and Milkman's shared name, people often place judgement upon him before meeting him.
- - - - The peacock's inability to fly is due to its vanity and high self esteem. Milkman also has a big ego resulting on his reliance on women :woman: and parents :silhouettes:.preventing him from escaping his home.
  - - - According to African legend, certain African Americans had a magic power that could enable flight and an escape from a place they did not desire to be :earth_africa:. In Song of Solomon Morrison uses the symbol of flight to convey a desire to get away from something.
- - - - Folktale: "A story passed on by word of mouth:
      - Allusion: "An indirect or passing reference"
    - - Allusion: "some poets (notably Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot) allude to areas of quite specialized knowledge. In his poem ‘The Statues’ (1939)—
        When Pearse summoned Cuchulain to his side
        What stalked through the Post Office?
        —W. B. Yeatsalludes both to the hero of Celtic legend (Cuchulain) and to the new historical hero (Patrick Pearse) of the 1916 Easter Rising"
    - - Fairy tale: "[fairy tales] had appeared in early chapbooks and romances"
      - Allusion: parody, satire