The Ghost of Milkman Past

           The past is an important part of Song of Solomon, and there are many ways of viewing it. It is also expressed in many ways, such as naming (see previous post), and setting. Everyone is tied to the past in some way, some because they don’t want to let it go, and some because it won’t let them go. Either way, the past is always present…

            I’m going to talk about the effect of setting on the past first: When Milkman is at home, the past hangs over him in a huge shameful cloud. He hates it; it’s what has given his nickname, it’s why his family can’t be normal, and it’s why there are so many secrets. He can’t seem to escape it no matter how hard he tries, and in this way, it becomes baggage to him. He feels claustrophobic and uncomfortable, and the past is something he desperately wants to forget.

However, when Milkman goes to Pennsylvania and Virginia, the past is good to him. It becomes a narrative that he wants to be a part of and traverse as Pilate and his father did. It becomes something he can be proud of, not as something that he himself accomplished, but as something that someone else accomplished. It causes him to admire the people in the past for what they did, and Milkman becomes a little more aware of his surroundings because of this admiration. He is excited to learn that he has “people” and that they were so revered in this part of the country. He is welcomed by the past in Pennsylvania, and he learns that it is something not to feel shameful about, but something to embrace. Even when he goes to Virginia, and is initially taken aback at his reception (not super welcoming), he feels more connected to the people there than he did at home.

The characters treat the past differently, which is clear through even the very beginning of the book. Ruth wishes the past had never left; this is evident in her wish to keep Milkman a baby (leading to his unfortunate nicknaming) and the attachment that she still feels towards her father. The past is not filled with shame for her, but with longing, and it is because of her longing that Milkman feels shame about her past. Macon Dead II seems to have mixed feelings about the past, at least in the portrayal of him that we get. He admired his father so much, as we find out in Pennsylvania, and I think that he is what he is today because of what his father was. In this way, he appreciates the past. At the same time, he is angry at what he thinks Pilate did to him, and at their falling out. He is also ashamed of Pilate and the way that she lives, and is therefore resentful of his past for including her in it.

Pilate seems to be the only character who accepts the past for what it is: something that happened and is now over. You can’t change the past, so what is the point of wishing you could or resenting it? She’s willing to talk about the past and explain things to Milkman, but she wouldn’t delve deeply into it for selfish, nostalgic reasons and wish that things had happened differently. This is probably a pretty healthy view to take, and it is at least the healthiest in the book. The characters all view the past differently, and that influences and is expressed through their personalities, interactions with others, and worldviews.