Ambiguity In Toni Morrison's Song Of Solomon

The conclusion of Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon is satisfyingly ambiguous. The reader doesn’t feel the need to know whether Milkman lives or dies because the story comes full circle. The story starting with a leap and ends with one. After Robert Smith leaps into the air, Milkman goes from being the little boy who, “discovered, at four, the same thing Mr. Smith had learned earlier- that only birds and airplanes could fly-he lost interest in himself.” Milkman loses interest in himself, meaning himself as a blackman and his family history. Once he reconnects with these aspects of himself, he leaps in the air because he knows what Shalimar, and even Pilate, knew: “If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.” Milkman’s development as a character contributes to the conclusion of the book being satisfying for the reader. Milkman goes from being a selfish man who felt entitled to control the people around him. This is what, Circe, the man who gave him a coke and a ride, as well as the people in Shalimar notice. Each time Milkman uses his wealth as a way out. The very reason he gets into a fight upon entering Shalimar …show more content…
After Robert Smith leaps into the air, Milkman thinks that only birds and airplanes could fly losing interest in himself, meaning his family history and black culture. Guitar, Milkman’s opposite in connection to black culture makes a statement stating that everyone want a black man’s life. In the end it’s Guitar who wants Milkman’s life. So when Milkman takes the leap, the reader recalls that Guitar is also the one who told Milkman,"Wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down." The audience doesn’t care whether Milkman lives or dies because they know by overcoming his pursuit of material things and reconnecting with himself that he learns to fly. With his development as a character, the story comes full circle, giving the reader the closure that they