Song of Solomon Close Reading

““You don’t like nothing sweet?”

“Fruit, but nothing with sugar. Candy, cake, stuff like that. I don't even like to smell it. Makes me want to throw up.”

Milkman searched for a physical cause. He wasn't sure he trusted anybody who didn’t like sweets. “You must have sugar diabetes.”

“You don’t get sugar diabetes from not eating sugar. You get it from eating too much sugar.”
“Then what is it, then?”

“I don’t know. It makes me think of dead people. And white people. And I start to puke.”

“Dead people?”

“Yeah. And white people.”

“I don’t get it.”

Guitar said nothing, so Milkman continued, “How long you been like that?”

“Since I was little. Since my father got sliced up in a sawmill and his boss came by and gave us kids some candy. Divinity. A big sack of divinity. His wife made it special for us. It’s sweet, divinity is. Sweeter than syrup. Real sweet. Sweeter than…”” (Morrison, 61)

Although this passage seems like a simple conversation about sweets between two children, this is possibly one of the most telling passages that marks the differences between Milkman and his best friend, Guitar. Here, Milkman is questioning Guitar on why eating sweets makes him feel sick. The way the conversation goes and the specific things each one says shows a hard to see psychological depth to each character.

This conversation starts between the two characters with Guitar telling Milkman that he does not eat any sweets because it make him sick, such as “candy, cake, stuff like that.” The idea of disliking sweets confuses Milkman so much that “he wasn’t sure he trusted anybody who didn’t like sugar.” While this doesn’t seem like much more than a passive thought that only came from shock, it actually speaks to the development of his psyche. That he is unsure if he “trusted anybody” based on one small choice, leads the belief that Milkman is being lead by his id, especially because the thought was so rash. The fact that the mistrust is based on the dislike of “sweets” reveals that Milkman is still very childlike in nature. Most rational people would not base their trust of someone on a simple like or dislike, especially not a matter of literal taste. However, children are often known for their love of sweets, and even more, their quick, not completely thought through judgements, such as Milkman’s. While Milman is about twelve at the time of this conversation, and the maturity in judgement is not completely necessary at that age, it still shows how Milkman does not seem to be rushed into growing up, which leads to the next part of the passage.

Guitar quickly explains to Milkman that he believes the reason for his dislike for sweets is because it reminds him “of dead people. And white people. And I want to puke.” When Milkman is confused, he only asks about the “dead people”, and it is Guitar who reminds him that “white people” also come to his mind when he is around sweets. He then reveals that when his father died, his fathers “boss came by and gave us kids some candy,” and that was when the sickness began. This revelation about Guitar shows the trauma that he has faced, and even more, the shelter that Milkman has always had. When Guitar explained his associations, the only thing Milkman caught on too was the “dead people,” seemingly disregarding that Guitar also mentioned “white people.” Since Milkman has been so sheltered, he most likely hasn’t seen, or, if he has, doesn’t understand, the racial divide between black, such as himself, and whites. He is much more interested and surprised by what he knows is different and scary, which is the “dead.” This shelter that Milkman was given is most likely the reason his mind is still young and hasn’t been forced to grow up quickly, whereas his closest friend was not so lucky. When he mentions “white people” in his associations to “sugar,” it almost seems like an obvious after thought to him, as if he anything he associated with white people was clearly unpleasant to him. Guitar has likely seen much more of the racial divide that Milkman has been blind to, which forced him to grow up quicker. Even when he says “us children” after saying “since I was little.” It is almost as if his psyche is telling him that he is not longer a child, even though he is only a few years older than Milkman.