LITR 5731: Seminar in American Multicultural Literature
Sample Student Midterm, Fall 2007

Martin D. Briones

Consequences of Flight

Flight was the common thread I found to analyze these African American literatures. The characters see and use the concept of flight as an escape. The concept of flight can be used to describe an escape, search for freedom, a journey or voyage. Usually in African American literature the term refers to an escape for freedom, as do the texts, Song of Solomon and The Classic Slave Narratives. In the Song of Solomon particularly, the concept is also used to describe a journey or voyage, especially for Milkman. A journey for the facts, the truth, can also be considered an escape for freedom. Both have their associated dangers. In an escape for freedom, I agree with Jennie Branch’s paper on Flight: Freedom or Escape.

When the methods of freedom are sought and accomplished (often the method is a search for knowledge), somebody is left scarred, insinuating that there is no true freedom for those who seek to fly: there is only escape.  Douglass, Morrison and Sapphire all use this idea of knowledge as flight in order to attain freedom, and consequently, not all who seek knowledge are inevitably freed.  There is this ever-present whisper in all three novels that continually suggests that most of the characters are not free, but have merely escaped from one life into another.

            In the Song of Solomon, Milkman is the character I saw as taking the greatest flight, the flight for knowledge. Milkman initially seeks information after the misinformed robbery at Pilate’s home of the gold Macon believed was in her living room. Milkman goes to search the cave where he and his father believe the gold to still be. In his quest I sensed that he surrendered his search for the gold for the greater treasure, his family history. In following Milkman and his character transformation as the story moves on I recognized some of the course objectives coming into play.

            The first was with Macon Dead Jr. and his learning’s from his father and teachings to his son on his pursuit, maybe flight, of the “The Dream” (objective 3a). Macon Dead once owned large areas of land but his family or son that would have eventually merited the land did not get it because of a setback. He was killed for the land. Therefore, the family had to rise again, as did Macon Dead Jr. with his business smarts. Milkman and his father both believed that if the gold was found then Macon could use his connections in the white business world to get it exchanged for money or something else of value (objective 4).

            All of the women in Milkman’s life fit the description of “women of color” becoming “double minorities” (objective 2a). The main women in Milkman’s life included: Hagar, Pilate, his mother and his sisters. Corinthian, one of Milkman’s sister’s was the female character who best represented the “women of color” becoming “double minorities” because though she had a university education she still was pretty much a secretary. Even though Corinthian had a great deal of knowledge with worldly things, from learning and from first hand experience, she still pretended not to know so that she would stay in her place and not be considered threatening.

            When Milkman visits his relative Susan Byrd, she appeared to be one who has crossed ethnic identities (objective 4a) allowing her to escape the racism that Milkman has faced, even though they are family. Many of the family members Susan speaks have “”passed”, allowing them to avoid racism as well.

            In Milkman’s journey he comes across several different families where he is accepted, though his role differs from family to family, his traditional, extended and alternative families (objective 6a) all accept him and make him feel comfortable in some way or another. He has his traditional family of his mother father and sisters where he lives. Pilate and her daughters are his extended family. His alternative family includes his best friend Guitar along with many other colorful characters that run in Milkman and Guitar’s circle. Even as Milkman journeys he comes across more alternative and extended families of sorts.

            Milkman’s flight for knowledge at first was for himself but he later returns to share the new information of his family history with those in his family. Upon his return he finds out Hagar has died heartbroken as a result of his flight. Solomon’s flight was for freedom, left behind were his wife and 21 children. That seems to be more of an escape. Branch describes it best:

            Though he (Solomon) has known the glory of wings, he has left those behind scarred and abandoned.  Freedom cannot be reached with a weight as heavy as this to bear.  Solomon has not been freed, he has merely escaped.

In the end when Pilate dies, Milkman says that he now knew why he loved her. Without ever leaving the ground, she could fly. Other characters were searching for something else, different identities, different lives, trying to change for whatever reason. Pilate was a bootlegger, appeared to not be well off, but that was satisfactory for her. That is who she was and she accepted it no matter what others believed, including her brother. She took all in and accepted others for who they were.

The poem, A Dream Deferred, by Langston Hughes, presented by Cindy Goodson, was the best comparison of the flight theme used in discussion of the quest, the journey, and the dream. Without repeating everything said, Leah Guillory, interpreted the comparison of the Song of Solomon with the poem A Dream Deferred very well. Guillory compared the main characters of the book and interpreted their meaning and place in A Dream Deferred.

In the book, The Classic Narratives – Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, his flight was to escape illiteracy. Douglass sought after his version of “The Dream” (objective 3a) by seeking dignity in becoming literate, educational reasons. Whereas Macon’s, in Song of Solomon, search for “The Dream” was for economic gains. Although he moved from the south to northern cities where slavery was different, maybe even not as apparent, it was still slavery. Douglass remains weighed down by the dominant society due to him being from a minority race. He never became truly free in the sense that once a slave, always a slave. Douglass learned a great deal of lessons from the boys on Philpot Street. He would talk slavery with them and tell them of how free they would be once they reached 21-years of age; Douglass though says he is a slave for life. His education brings him to realization of the many things going on around him that deal with slavery that he may or may not have wanted to know. The flight for literacy to seek knowledge and understanding in hopes of clarity and a sort of being free was settling Douglass with thoughts of agony and even wishing him dead. The ability for him to be able to read a newspaper or anything where he was able to learn of the goings on of the white people made him at times envy his fellow slaves and their stupidity or illiteracy in that they had no idea of the greater things going on around them because of their uneducated state.

Douglass also realized that he was a slave for life when his masters in Baltimore passed away and he and the other slaves were figured in to the value of the property to be sold off to new owners and then the slaves would have new masters just like that. The slaves were part of the property, not separate from the property.

So, though Douglass sought after his version of “The Dream” (objective 3a) by seeking dignity in becoming literate, his flight for freedom/knowledge was more of a temporary escape.

A Perilous Passage in the Slave Girl’s Life, from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, talks of the slave girl taking a plunge into the abyss. Her plunge reminded me of Milkman’s leap at Guitar in the end of Song of Solomon. She takes this plunge after she realizes she does not know what to do about her master building her a small place and she tells him that she will never step foot in it. She hated and loathed this man, her master. So as an escape for freedom from this man, she takes a plunge/flight.

As one can see from these examples, the characters see and use the concept of flight as an escape. Though initially they may be using the flight as an escape for freedom, it is actually only an escape. Their escape came with consequences though. The consequences in these readings usually dealt with leaving someone behind. How can you actually be or feel free when loved ones or a loved one is left behind? There is no way the person taking flight can feel free leaving those behind. The escape is kind of like suicide, the person committing suicide only sees the immediate relief of their problems by taking their life, now they are free, now they have no worries. What happens to their children, spouse, parents, and other loved ones? Someone is always left behind when taking the flight.

Another form of consequence appears in Douglass, too much knowledge. Douglass did not know just enough to get by with his day to day life; he knew enough to find out information on his own through reading books or the newspaper.

In summing up Branch’s quote from earlier and summing up this analysis of the concept of flight and its consequences, there is no true escape for freedom, only an escape to something else. In that escape there are consequences to deal with at the end of the quest.