Flight

When we began reading Song of Solomon, Ms. Maxey mentioned the idea of flight as a means to escape, and this motif has been repeated many times throughout the book as several of the characters have found themselves in a situation where they might be happier up in the clouds than on Earth. In chapter eight when Milkman speaks to Guitar about the peacock being stuck as a flightless bird Morrison draws a powerful comparison between Milkman and the bird, "Too much tail. All that jewelry weighs it down. Like vanity. Can’t nobody fly with all that shit. Wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down” (179). I bring up this quote because I think it captures the gist of what flight means in this novel. For Milkman, flight is being able to let go of his material possessions and his social baggage in order to escape. Although one could argue that in Milkman's bubble there isn't much he needs to escape from, I think that flight can also represent Milkman freeing himself from immaturity as he stops placing such a large emphasis on the "shit that weighs [him] down" which is his money and social skills.