Active Blog for Chapter 15

Plot Summary: Chapter fifteen is the final chapter in Song of Solomon. Milkman is back in Shalimar right after he hears the truth about his ancestry from his distant relative, Susan Byrd. He is very excited about this newfound knowledge and celebrates it with a woman he met in Shalimar named Sweet. He goes back to his hometown to tell his dad and aunt about their family's heritage and about the gold, etc. He decides to go tell Pilate first and she immediately knocks him unconscious with a wine bottle because he had basically caused Hagar to kill herself. He awakens in a cellar where he shares with Pilate a revelation that she us carrying her father's bones in the green sack this whole time, not the bones of a white man she thought her father had told her to carry. She is shocked at this news and decides to go back and bury him properly in the cave where she found him in Danville. Before they leave, Milkman has a sort of peace between his family members: Lena isn't too mad at him anymore because Corinthians is living with Porter now, and though his parent's relationship is as frayed as ever, he accepts it. He and Pilate go to the cave and bury their respective items: Pilate has the bones of her father and the earring that carried the only word Macon Dead had ever written in hi life, her name; Milkman buries the hair of a woman who killed herself because he hadn't care at all for her. Guitar Baines shoots Pilate during the burial and after wishing that she had loved more people than she had in life, she dies. Milkman yells for Guitar that if he wants Milkman's life, here it is, and he throws himself off the cliff and flies away (ie. he kills himself). It is only in death does Milkman realize that that is the only way that he can fly.

Themes: The main theme that is easily identifiable is that the only way to fly is to get rid of all of the worldly things hindering you from being entirely free. Another theme would be that knowing one's history is something that defines one's character. And perhaps another theme would be to love people while you still have a chance or else you'd be faced with regret as you pass on into the next life.

Magical Realism: There was reference to Pilate's father's ghost talking to her again. The pinnacle of Milkman's life was when he finally learned to fly. It is hinted that he literally got to fly away like his great grandfather Solomon/Shalimar also did.

Chapter 15 Quote, page 333: "Names had meaning. No wonder Pilate put hers in her ear. When you know your name, you should hang onto it, for unless it is noted down and remembered, it will die when you do." This is an essential theme that has been stressed as a main lesson in Milkman's life.

Chapter 15 Quote, page 334: "Perhaps that's what all human relationships boiled down to: Would you save my life? or would you take it?" This also seemed to sum up the way Milkman assessed all of his relationships. In Guitar's case he says that he'd do both.

Character Analysis:
Milkman: He has come to many realizations since the beginning of this novel. He has learned the importance of language through the use of names and through expression. He has learned to fly by getting ride of all of the heavy things holding him down (ex: his life).
Pilate: She has stayed the wise old woman/earth-mother archetype throughout the entire book. She got rid of the body that had been burdening her since her father died. It was satisfying to know that she got to fly to, even before she left the ground.
Macon Dead II: He has stayed the same throughout the book as one of the main antagonists to the main character and to his whole family.
Guitar Baines: He deserves pity, for his life is filled with much hardship. Whilst enlisted in the service of the Seven Days his outlook on life becomes twisted to the point where his really only true friend, Milkman, became his enemy. He killed Pilate, but it's uncertain whether he meant to shoot her or Milkman. He does not seem to show any remorse for killing her at the end of the book, which is quite unfortunate. The end of the novel gives no hints at how his life will turn out with the suicide of his former friend, Milkman Dead.