"It was a warm dreamy sleep all about flying, about sailing high over the earth. But not with arms stretched out like airplane wings, not shot forward like Superman in a horizontal dive, but floating, cruising, in the relaxed position of a man lying on a couch reading a newspaper. Part of his flight was over the dark sea, but it didn't frighten him because he knew he could not fall. He was alone in the sky, but somebody was applauding him, watching him and applauding. He couldn't see who it was." (Song of Solomon, page 298)
After meeting Guitar for the second time since Guitar has decided to kill him, Milkman goes back to Sweet's house and "[sleeps] the night in her perfect arms." He has just learned why Guitar wants to kill him and has told his friend that he never found any gold. This point is just before the morning when he reconsiders his entire life, and consciously recognizes that he has needed to change.
Flying has been an important image throughout this book, so when I read this passage it struck me. Milkman finally seems at peace. His flight is like "floating, cruising, in the relaxed position of a man lying on a couch reading a newspaper." He imagines someone "watching him and applauding." I would argue that this night marks him really growing from a boy into a man. His flight is easy and relaxed, rather than uneasy and hurried. This idea that he has now really changed is supported the next morning when he consciously realizes it. Maybe this dream about flying is Milkman unconsciously realizing that he has changed.
1 comment:
And it's a curiously un-heroic image of flight--not "like Superman," or even Dedalus. Given Milkman's reputation for "softness," I'm not sure what to make of his flight as taking place as if on a "couch." It seems more like detachment (or freedom?) than flight "for" or "to" anywhere or anything. Maybe it's that he's not actually *seeking* gold anymore; he's just "cruising." It implies a new level of comfort with himself?
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