Solomon's Song

In chapter thirteen we see Milkman listening to a song the some children are singing. Milkman realizes that the song is about his great grandfather, Solomon, who abandons his wife Ryna is the cotton fields.  The song focuses on the novels main themes of flight and abandonment. There are many paralells between Milkman and Solomon. Solomon left his wife to wither in the hot cotton fields, and Milkman left Hagar to destroy herself and die. Morrison draws on the conditions for blacks during the slavery era where men were ripped away from plantations without notice, destroying families and tearing them apart. Morrison shows that it is not by choice that men leave, but rather forced upon them by their society. Solomon existed during the slavery era and was ripped away from his home a left. Milkman has left to understand his race and find his people. Both left due to pressures from their societies and both reflect the different era's. 

Rebirth

In Part II of Song of Solomon reader see the rebirth and change of Milkman. As he is being strangled by Guitar he breathes what he believes is his last breath and part of his life flashes before his eyes. But Guitar does not kill him and Milkman lives. Before this event we notice some changes in the character of Milkman, like when he sheds his nice suit for the military hunting clothes he dons for his bobcat hunt. He is leaving his sheltered, rich, fancy world and entering a new world. Entering the new towns too effect his view of himself, he begins to enter a new realm of understand of himself, issues, the world, and the people around him. When Guitar brings on Milkman's new life by murdering Milkman's past self, Milkman finally enters the world as a caring, selfless, human. This we see in his interactions with the prostitue Sweet. Compared to his relations with Hagar (which he refkects on and realizes his wrong doings), the events with Sweet have a give and take and an equality/appreciation for each other aspect. Sweet bathes Milkman, Milkman bathes Sweet, she cleans his wounds and he gives her a back massage, she cooks and he cleans the bathroom. Through their relationship we begin to see how Milkman had changed and acknowlages his poor treatment of Hagar. 

Doctor Foster was a strange man

Doctor Foster was a really strange man. He was close in a way that no one is really sure to his daughter Ruth, and kept her away from many different social areas because he felt that no one was good enough for her, but then desperately wanted to marry her off and get some distance between them. He also delivered Ruth's child, which under all circumstances is strange and very uncomfortable for every party involved with either character. Doctor Foster was also strangely racist against his own people, being the only black doctor in his town. Wouldn't you think as one of the more highly educated black people within his area he would try and elevate other black people's statuses? I really can't find any motive behind this behavior, all I can think of is how backwards it is that he would act like that. Almost every black intellectual in history has tried to further black's statuses, why wouldn't Doctor Foster?

Macon Dead Junior needs to wake up

Macon Dead Jr. seems to be in serious trouble of demolishing all of his relationships. He is trying to badly to keep up this image he has attained but his family would just rather be comfortable with themselves then with the rest of the world. Money does not seem to matter as much to the rest of them as it does to MDJ. I don't necessarily think this whole money obsession is something he was born with though. It seems to be an effort in a strange way to emulate his fathers success within his community. But instead of reaching out and treating all people as equals and family he tries to keep himself at a different elevated level. And he is also pushing his family member to the absolute limit when it comes to what they will deal with. Corinthians may just get up and leave after what he has put her through in meddling with her life, and Lena just wants her other family members happy so she might do whatever it takes for them. Ruth is clearly unhappy and has been for years, and Milkman respects his father but wishes to be as different from him as possible. All this pushing might just break the family and MDJ's image that he has tried so hard to achieve. If he doesn't try and create some love and warmth for any member soon, that "perfection" he has strained for may just fall apart.