In literature, what does it mean for someone to steal? Ovid's Metamorphoses, chronicles of Greco-Roman mythology dating from more than 2000 years ago, depict the failure of flight through the fate of Icarus and Phaethon, victims of pride. Written by Toni Morrison and published in 1977, Song of Solomon opens and ends with an image of an attempted escape. A range of paradoxical connotations emerge from this image, such as triumph and failure, heroism and cowardice, life and death. One can justify these dichotomies as a direct consequence of Morrison's decision to leave the reasoning behind Robert Smith and Milkman's leap open to interpretation. Although it is unclear why Smith and Milkman attempt to steal, readers learn of the deterrent effect of stealing through Milkman and Guitar's observation and interlocution of the ostentatious, grounded peacock. The conclusion is “shit weighs you down” (179). To understand what it means to steal in this novel, we must also define this “shit”. In Song of Solomon, images of escape reflect elements of the past, present, and future: appreciation of one's origin, escape from societal domestication, and resurrection of the human spirit. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Whether it's a bird or an airplane, anything that can hover in the air must come from the ground. Therefore, before one can fly, one must be grounded. From the moment Milkman realizes that humans cannot fly, he becomes detached from the community as a result of this discouraging recognition. Although he befriends Guitar Bains, meets his enchanted aunt Pilate, and has sex with his cousin Hagar, Milkman is still on the sidelines, as his desire to steal forces him to annoy and ultimately give up these human relationships on the ground. When the Dead family's Packard drives leisurely through town on a Sunday afternoon, Milkman feels troubled because his view is limited to what he can see out the rear window, illustrating Milkman's tragic flaw in belittling the past in order to get an overview of what is happening. will pass. To observe the passing scenery, he kneels on the seat, but "stepping back made him uncomfortable. It was like flying blind, and not knowing where he was going - exactly where he had been - troubled him” (32). The past should be a cushion, not a discomfort. In a dream, Pilate sees his father and he tells him: “You just can't fly away and leave a body” (147). Jake's warning suggests that one can only fly once all earthly matters are resolved, because Pilate still hasn't buried the bones she's been carrying all these years. And only after Pilate buries his father's bones on Solomon's Leap can Pilate fly. The milkman's odyssey to discover the origins of his name and his family clashes with his contradictory desire to remain ignorant, for in ignorance he finds superficial happiness and security. When Milkman boards the plane for the first time in his life, the feeling of freedom he feels in the air is just a pale illusion, because Milkman still believes that freedom can only be found outside from reality and outside of his past. Milkman cannot fly without embracing his past like the air beneath his wings. Raised by a man who talks black, lives white, and thinks green, Milkman can't see beyond the money, the house, and the Packard, because materialism and vanity are the "shit." " which weighs him down from flying. For Milkman to truly fly, he must abandon everything that corrupts the mind,ignoring the values ​​of identity and culture and instead embracing humanity. The peacock is the icon of societal domestication. Only once the peacock releases its heavy, ornate tail feathers can it fly away freely without restraint. While belittling Pilate through his anecdote about the baby snake that ended up eating its keeper, Macon Dead also teaches Milkman "the one important thing you'll always need to know: Owning things" (55). Macon Dead is not not born into wealth, so he had to work with righteous ambition to reach the top of the black hierarchy however, Milkman was born into wealth and took it for granted, which is even worse Society has corrupted; the spirit of Macon Dead to such an extent that Macon Dead believes that "money is freedom" Milkman adopts this principle when he writes the word "gratitude" and includes it. money in a breakup letter to Hagar so that he can be freed from Hagar's love. Money is neither freedom nor a deliverer, especially in opposition to love. of man may revolve around money, but the status of heaven does not recognize the value of materialism. As Milkman's journey develops and the layers of his family history begin to peel back, Milkman's money and possessions unravel quickly. become useless, because fortune is not gold but rather the past and its inhabitants. “Without ever leaving the earth, she could fly” because Pilate realized that no earthly possessions had value in his heart, which the reader learns through Pilate's contempt for her. hair and social conventions (336). Milkman cannot fly until he removes the weight of materialism and vanity from his back. Although Robert Smith and Milkman leap into the air without any evidence of success, Pilate, even after his death, flies away via the birds bearing his name into the air, which insinuates a spiritual resurrection. Death is not the end of the cycle for those whose minds were pure. Resembling the birth, life, and death of Christ, Pilate enters the world unaided through the womb of her deceased mother, carries her father's bones as society condemns her as an outcast, and dies lovingly as his final words for the sins of Milkman and Guitar's fatal ambition. towards wealth. And yet, she flies. Milkman views Pilate's death as a graceful flight to freedom: “Now he knew why he loved her so much. Without ever leaving the earth, she could fly” (336). Not only does Pilate resemble the life cycle of Christ, but she is an example of a human from the earth, as she was born without a navel, eats what she grows, and is aware of her origins, all of which contrast with Macon. Mort, a man of society rather than of the land. Robert Smith's letter regarding his planned flight from Mercy to Lake Superior resembles Christ's journey. His departure from Mercy suggests that Smith no longer wanted to be at the mercy of society, so he flew to Lake Superior, a symbol of refuge or even paradise. Condemned for claiming to be the Son of God, Christ did not receive clemency from the Jewish crowds and was ultimately crucified, but rose from the dead and ascended to heaven. Flight can therefore be seen as a resurrection. After Guitar murders Pilate, Milkman realizes that only in death will Milkman be able to rise from the dead and fly like Solomon and Pilate, so he asks Guitar, "You want my life?" Do you need it? Here” (337). He jumps off the cliff. Milkman realizes that “if you gave yourself over to the air, you could ride it” (337). Pilate's grounded flight springs from his true knowledge and recognition of the tangled feelings of love,.