Song of Solomon Critical Lens Expert Matthew Khoury

Matt Khoury

AP Literature

Song of Solomon Critical Lens Expert

After reading Song of Solomon: The Struggle for Race and Class Consciousness by Dorothea Drummond Mbalia, I discovered a more eloquently crafted article about how I felt about the book. My thoughts were simply calling Milkman sheltered and a jerk, but Mbalia put what I had thought about the main character into a very well written article. Milkman has this sort of disconnect from being African-American due to his privilege. He doesn’t seem to care about anything around him unless it directly affects him. This is exemplified when he is told about the death of Emmett Till. He stumbles in on a radio broadcast of the news, but simply does not care about it. The loss did not affect him personally, so he shows little concern about the whole situation. In fact, when referencing Emmett Till’s death, he is quoted saying, “Yeah, well, fuck Till. I’m the one in trouble.” Mbalia makes an example out of this saying that this statement reflects Milkman’s need to develop a strong racial consciousness. I believe what she is saying to be true and agree completely. Milkman does not care about his people, just about himself. His lack of association with other African-Americans is non-existent and that is toxic. He does not associate with the struggle, so he does not think there is one. His non-existent care for his people makes him look like a jerk.