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Song of Solomon: Flying Home (Toni Morrison Lecture on Chapters X-XV) (Patreon)

Published:
2024-10-20 20:25:27
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Content

For now he knew what Shalimar knew: If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.

Today we draw to the close of Song of Solomon. The close of this masterpiece, but certainly not the end of our loving engagement with Toni Morrison.

In our discussion, we're meditating upon the open ending, character transformation, death and rebirth, returning to nature, symbolism, keeping the past alive through song, the power of stories, and much more.

Timestamps:

0:00 the ending of Song of Solomon

2:00 Milkman Dead’s journey begins

4:00 appreciating Morrison’s prose

6:00 Homer & the Brothers Grimm

8:00 fairytale allusion appreciation

10:00 birth, life & death in nature

12:00 ‘caught in the stasis of speed’

14:00 the journey is the destination

15:00 travelling during segregation

17:00 homecoming as universal theme

18:00 the parable of the prodigal son

20:00 how stories keep the past alive

22:00 Abraham Lincoln vs slavery

24:00 shot defending Lincoln’s Heaven

26:00 sublime sermonistic passage

28:00 ‘we got a home in this rock’

30:00 mythology through rememory

31:00 the shadow of a great rock

33:00 childhood nightmares of witches

35:00 the underworld as unconscious

37:00 Circe in the Butler mansion

39:00 learning to listen is learning to fly

41:00 Milkman’s grandmother’s name

43:00 how the quest begins to change

45:00 finding nothing in Hunter’s Cave

48:00 where to find your true self

50:00 meaning in mistaken names

52:00 shibboleths & in-group language

54:00 etymology deep appreciation

57:00 Milkman Dead heads for Shalimar

59:00 your pleasant peninsular is here

1:01:00 singing a song of Solomon

1:03:00 print & oral literature together

1:05:00 feeling like a stranger at home

1:07:00 the fight at Solomon’s Store

1:09:00 blood, water & wine symbolism

1:11:00 on doing nothing to deserve this

1:13:00 heroes in romance quest narratives

1:14:00 how to become a hero in your life

1:16:00 hunting for the heart of nature

1:18:00 self emerging from persona cocoon

1:20:00 gift of fear & our danger instincts

1:21:00 Milkman’s day has now come

1:23:00 finally learning to love truly

1:25:00 the symbolism of Singing Byrd

1:26:00 Solomon flies off from Ryna

1:27:00 Milkman now dreams of flying

1:28:00 ‘O Solomon don’t leave me here’

1:30:00 the folktale of Flying Africans

1:32:00 the unsung heroes do the singing

1:34:00 the tragic demise of Hagar

1:36:00 Pilate Dead cries out for mercy

1:38:00 transformation of Milkman Dead

1:40:00 meditating on human relationships

1:41:00 death of Pilate at Solomon’s Leap

1:45:00 Milkman Dead learns to ride the air

1:47:00 what does the novel’s ending mean?

1:48:00 exciting book club announcements

1:49:00 on Dante, Hardy & Dickens coming up

1:50:00 congratulations on finishing the novel

Questions for You:

1) What did you make of the ending of Song of Solomon?

2) What will you remember most from your time spent with this novel?

3) What area connected with Toni Morrison are you now most keen to explore?

4) How would you persuade another to read Song of Solomon? And what advice would you give to facilitate a meaningful reading experience?

And please do share with us your impressions and favourite passages from the end of Song of Solomon.

Congratulations on reading Song of Solomon, everybody!

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Comments

Rachel Brown

I finished this book a couple of weeks ago - I couldn’t put it down. It was my first Morrison book which seems absurd to think of now. Like many others, Pilate became the character for me - was so magnetic - both to me and other characters in the story. Thanks Benjamin for your work on this book. Your lectures just made the book perfect. ❤️

Brook

This was beautiful. I was so drawn in by the second half and, of course, have my reasons for that but I recognize I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much without the incredible foundation that was built beforehand. So, before moving on, I want to give due credit to the first part. Toni Morrison is such a talent! First, I loved the opening of part two and enjoyed hearing it read aloud for the lecture. I found it interesting how fairy tales were woven in so seamlessly throughout this book. It's made me want to go back and reread a few! What resonated with me most however was returning to nature. To be completely honest, while I think Toni Morrison did an amazing job weaving the life tapestry of all these characters, I found I wasn't invested as much in them personally as I was just in being in the environments described and challenging my senses to really experience them myself. I find such beauty, joy, and solace in nature. When we see Milkman struggling through the forest, fumbling across the creek, and fighting against the rocks with such impatience, everything in me just wanted to yell out to him, to tell him to take a breath, to actually see where he is, and to let it wash over and heal him. When we finally see him do this on the hunt, where he's being cradled by the roots and his fingers search the soil, it was like a huge sigh of relief. It makes me smile just thinking about it. To get to that point, I really liked how Milkman had to shed "dead" weight. He was carrying so much that was weighing him down and hindering him from actually seeing, actually hearing. I thought it was really clever to see his suit and belongings slowly ruined and/or stripped away as his journey progressed. I also found this need to strip away material positions to really be in line with society today. So much of our identity gets entangled with our possessions that we lose sight of who we really are. Something else that jumped out at me was that the ancestral homes Milkman wanted to visit couldn't be reached by car. I think back to the first part when his dad was using his car as a status symbol and how Milkman's car on his adventure got him where he was going but ultimately hindered him with the community. So, like before, he had to rid himself of that but I also liked the element of choice in that action each time. It was pointed out a couple different times that a car couldn't make that road. So, really, he had to make the choice each time of whether he wanted to walk that path by foot. Again, it's back to feeling nature beneath your feet and choosing to trace those paths into unknown territory. It wasn't anything major, but i just thought it was nice! Now, do I think Milkman died?... I really don't think it's relevant. However, if, like Benjamin mentioned, Pilate serves as a Christ-like figure and we can see her either as sacrificial or as saving Milkman from Guitar's shot, then I don't think so. Christ died to give life. She died so he could live. I also think she would have known Guitar was there with them. Pilate was attuned to nature, like those hunters, and didn't need to see him to know he was there. She also gave Milkman instructions before she died, like Christ did to His followers. Milkman recognized that Pilate was able to fly while her feet never left the ground and he says that there must be another woman like her alive. Either he'll find her, if he doesn't know her already, or maybe he'll strive to live, a man, as she did. I think there's too many clues of his story not yet being finished that it wouldn't make sense for him to die right then. But, we'll never know! I'm really excited for Hardy. Benjamin has mentioned him so often in the short time I've been a part of this group that I know I'm in for a treat. I even bought a really pretty edition to read from that's been eyeing me from my shelf for weeks now. I can't believe we're nearing the end of the year already! I hope you're all doing great :)

Carrol Firmage
>>153419871

I love your comment about Milkman shedding his clothes as he shed his former self. I thought the same thing as I read it!

Carrol Firmage

This has got to be up there with East of Eden for favorites this year! I loved reading it for the first time, and know that I have to read so much more of Morrison now. I feel a reread of Beloved is a necessity, so that has moved up the list of “to reads”. And thank you, Ben for excellent lectures on this book. You articulate much of what I have thought about while reading, but you have a wonderful way of putting it all together and making much more sense! I am so looking forward to Hardy. He has been a favorite for a very long time but I have never read Far From the Madding Crowd. It will be so rewarding to read it with the Bookclub! And I am also very excited for the next Dickens!

Aida Farrell

I read Song of Solomon when it first came out and I was in my twenties. It moved me deeply then. But rereading it decades later, this time listening to Morrison's own narration, I found it even more profoundly moving. Perhaps Milkman's quest resonated on some level with my own journey of self discovery through connection to family. Thank you, Benjamin, for presenting me with a chance to reflect not just on the power and beauty of this remarkable author's storytelling but on my own life experiencene bookended by two readings of Song of Solomon over 40 years apart.

Marguerite C.

This was my first reading of Song of Solomon and Toni Morrison. Listening first to the audiobook a chapter at a time, then reading the book with Toni Morrison's voice in my head. Recommend this listening/reading experience to anyone. Afterwards I revisited favorite parts during the lectures and a dipped back into the passages that read like a poetry. What a wonderful experience!

Estella

Wow, I just finished reading Song of Solomon - what an amazing book and reading experience! This reading for me was so deep and even personal in some ways. The topic of knowing your people and where you come from resonated with me so much because it is a journey I myself have been on for about 3 years since I have been doing intensive research about my own family ancestry. Milkman's self discovery is profound and I drew many comparisons and even insight from his experiences. Flying is such a beautiful subject and metaphor in the story, and ending it with "if you surrendered to the air you could ride it" (337), was strong. Milkman's fear was gone. He could face himself, life, death, and Guitar differently now. These lines and their connection were quite meaningful to me: "My name's Macon; I'm already dead" (270), then later Guitar tells Macon, "Your name is Macon, but you ain't dead yet" (297). For me, it meant that Macon felt in many ways defeated before, but as his experiences change him, he becomes bolder; unknowingly, Guitar confirms this with his own words. In a way, it was a gift to Macon. As I am finishing Dante's Inferno, I see the parallels with the immersion and descent into different levels of Hell to Macon's journey to the places where his ancestors came from and his descent into the hunting experiences with the older men. Thanks Ben, for the wonderful lectures that you provided for this reading!

Donna F.

I really enjoyed reading SoS for the first time. Like others, it made me think of my time on ancestry.com, finding connections I never knew existed. I thought it was beautiful as Milkman slowly realizes the gold he’s searching for is the connections to ancestors and meaning I life. It’s a beautiful story…TY, Benjamin, for choosing this book.

Helen Lyons

Thanks Ben - it took me a while to finish this book but I really enjoyed it. I loved the final part - the start of chapter 10. Everything came together in the final part even though we don't really know what happened. This was my first reading of Toni Morrison and I would certainly love to read more. A great read and a book that stays with you.

Anna M.

This was my first book by Morrison and it definitely was something entirely different! I'm not sure exactly what, but I don't think I ever read anything quite like this book. The prose is just so amazing. It seems like everyday language but at times it's so rich and opulent and original, no tired metaphors to be found anywhere! I was quite skeptical at first as I'm not that into modern stuff but I have to say the book completely surprised me. I have to read something else by Morrison now. Amazing stuff!

Patrick Ellsworth

I haven't read Song of Solomon yet, but I loved loved loved both Beloved and Paradise. Morrison is in a league of her own.