Song of Solomon Reflection and Response

While Song of Solomon as a whole was fantastic, what really caught my attention and has stuck with me was the ambiguous ending. At the end of most novels about finding one’s self, it ends with the character setting off into their world a changed person, or having died trying. Basically, a very clear path for the future, or none at all. However, Toni Morrison decided not to follow that common route. Instead, after Milkman found himself, one of the most important people in his life died and he was faced with a dilemma that forced readers to question what happened. Even more than that, readers were forced to question what finding himself really did to Milkman.

Before Milkman found himself, he was an extremely materialistic, emotionally stunted person, who put a lot of effort and focus on what he wanted, which kind of reminds me of the Freud's ego. However, after he found himself, while he started to understand his emotions, Milkman also seemed to become much more impulsive, which reminds me more of Freud’s id. Stereotypically, it is more desirable to for the ego to be in control of one’s conscience, and the id is associated with childish behavior and immaturity. None of this really came to mind until I read the last few lines of the novel.

“Without wiping away the tears, taking a deep breath, or even bending his knees- [Milkman] leaped. As fleet and bright as a lodestar he wheeled toward Guitar and it did not matter which one of them would give up his ghost in killing arms of his brother. For now he knew what Shalimar knew: If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.”

The impulsivity that Milkman showed was new and one that definitely identified with the id. This made me question Morrison’s thoughts on what society should value in a person and what she believes a person should be. It seemed that she wanted to emphasize the idea that having too many emotions and acting on irrationally on them is better than acting emotionless in most aspects of life. It’s interesting because society tells us now, and during her time, that keeping your mouth shut and going with the flow of what happens is the best thing to do, and emotionally rash decisions are going to get people hurt. I believe that Morrison used the ambiguous ending to tell her readers that finding yourself may mean letting go of control and the willingness to get hurt or even die, so long as it means being your true identity.