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What prevents flight and freedom, transcendence and growth? (Macon "…

- - - - Vanity has kept Milkman from moving forward in life. He is not able to transcend his past and understand his identity because his past, specifically his father, has made him narrow-minded and selfish.
      - Could also reference his father's vanity that was passed down to him. #
      - Milkman is blind to the needs of others. He does not care about how Hagar feels when he coldly breaks up with her by LETTER. He only realizes the pain he caused his sisters when Lena rants about it to him. He looks only at his own needs and problems.
        
        Just like the women in this image, Milkman has only ever focused on himself.
    - - Materialistic motives. Not love--why treats Hagar poorly + not serious.
  - - - Milkman is afraid of anything that could hurt him or cause him to become serious. His last desire was to become committed in anything, which is why he broke his relationship with Hagar. This shows how Milkman's self, immature attitude prevents him from moving forward.
    - - Milkman yearns to escape his life and his family but even when he tries to gain power he learns about his past, and that haunts him, only further preventing himself from transcending his problems and from moving on.
  - - - Milkman was originally characterized by his selfish attitude and uncaring nature. He had no regard for others--Ruth, Hagar, Corinthians, Lena. Now, as he tries to find his father's gold, he does not think about where he steps, even if it hurts himself or makes his path harder. This is symbolic of how his materialistic, immature, and vain nature kept him from transcending himself and gaining freedom.
  - - - In part two Milkman shifts to a more mature character with confidence. Even though this instance is unimportant to the plot, Morrison uses it to show how he has gained new confidence that has given him purpose. -- could this be him flying? Is he free now that he knows about his past and how he is no longer landlocked to Michigan?
    - - Milkman did not value Hagar and used her only for the temporary sexual pleasure she brought him. At this point in the novel, Milkman is immature and not ready for commitment, explaining why he has trouble transcending himself.
    - - Early in the novel Guitar (Milkman's closest friend) tells Milkman he is "not a serious person," which Milkman immediately dismisses. Milkman's actions are immature and that he refuses to acknowledge them makes him that much more childish. Still, this resonates with Milkman.
    - - Out hunting alone in the dark, Milkman has none of the amenities he had back home that his family could easily give him.
  - - - During this hunting experience where he is no longer protected by the luxuries he had back home, he gets a new sense of maturity. His metaphorical "limp" that prevented him from transcending himself and growing finally went away.
  - - - Icarus (portrayed as falling into the green water on the right) went too close to the sun because he got cocky and his wax wings melted, so he fell into the ocean. Like Icarus, Milkman cannot fly because his own vanity and "baggage" weighs him down.
      - Icarus' father, Daedalus, pushes Icarus off of Minos' prison in attempt to fly so they can escape. Perhaps the reason Milkman originally cannot fly, be free, is because of his own fathers influence on his life.
- - - - Part of the reason that Pilate is such a stronger character is because she is much more in touch with her real community. Macon never left his town like Pilate and therefore has never grown as a person or understood his identity. #
    - - Macon derives this mindset from his past with his father and his disagreements with Pilate over the gold.
  - - - Ruth and Macon's relationship is defined by Macon's overpowering presence. Ruth is powerless to Macon, unable to control his actions or have a say in any dispute they have. Ruth is forced into being a "spread-eagled footstool" and is therefore unable to "fly" because of Macon.
    - - A Black Indian Eagle spreads its wings
    - - Ruth does not meet any new people and grows completely dependent on her father's love. She was limited by her appearances (her silk dresses) and confined to her household as a "small package." She is powerless in this relationship and therefore she becomes submissive later in life with Macon. This shows how her past with her father profoundly limited her opportunities. # #
  - - - Milkman has walked all over Lena her whole life and she used rose making to distract her from it.
    - - Corinthians and Lena spent their entire "girlhood" satisfying the needs of Milkman. They were completely cut off from their own lives because of him and he never even realized it.
    - - Lena was denied her opportunity to advance her life because she was stuck protecting her mother from her father. She is limited from "flying" and was trapped like a prisoner in her house. #
    - - Corinthian and Lena's father has used them for his own selfish reasons. Their entire lives were spent as objects serving their father's interests. Their own needs were never considered.
  - - - Corinthians and Lena are both trapped in their household and must use flower making as a distraction even though Corinthians hates it.
    - - "A perfect example of the men her parents had kept her from" (201).
        
        In this case it is her own parents who limited Corinthians' freedom. #
    - - Her entire life, Corinthians has been confined to her nuclear family. She is afraid to act differently, pursue something different, that might make her family look bad. Corinthians originally limits herself from being with her boyfriend because of this fear "of her daddy" (196).
      - Corinthians and Lena were trapped in their lives and had to make "red velvet" roses to occupy themselves.
      - Corinthians and Lena make velvet roses to distract themselves. Maybe like how Milkman is a "distraction" for Ruth. #
- - - - Why material oriented?
- - - - Roger Reeves: Boy Removing Fleas--after Ter Borch: Boy Removing Fleas from a Dog by Jean-Michel Basquiat
      - "Her itch must run and run and run.
        But a boy must try, burn what he can. Burn. Burn."
        
        Reeve's contrasts how women and men are able to handle removing these symbolic "fleas," representative of how women are very limited in their ability to overcome men, just as the female members of the Dead family are pushed around and not allowed freedom because of Macon and Milkman. # # #
    - - Because Icarus flew too close to the sun, everyone around him had to suffer. Milkman's vanity has made everyone around him suffer--Hagar, Ruth, Lena, Corinthians, Pilate--just the same.
    - - The boy in Diaz' poem is ignorant of his mothers own value for these raisins. He is privileged and does not realize it. Lena and Corinthians were "hungry" for freedom, but were stuck doing whatever Macon or Milkman wanted. In this Diaz and Morrison show how vain members of families can make people powerless to fly. # #
  - - - Folklore and Community in Song of Solomon, by Susan L. Blake
      - Blake highlights the importance of community in Song of Solomon, particularly with Milkman's quest to understand his identity. When he was in Michigan--landlocked, confined to old habits--he was unable to fly. Blake believes that understanding his community is one of the most important reasons Milkman is able to understand his own identity, even though the quest itself is dangerous.