Pilate's Death

The moment that surprised me most in Song of Solomon was Pilate’s death. How could Pilate--the most powerful character in the novel, who “piloted” the story, saved Milkman on multiple occasions, and taught him introspection and empathy--die? But the more I reflected on the ending of the novel, the more fitting her death seemed, even if it wasn’t what I had wanted to happen.

In Pilate’s death, her life in many ways comes full circle. She has returned to her family’s place of origin and finally buried the bones of her father, which she had carried with her for decades. Milkman also sings to her as she dies: “Sugargirl don’t leave me here/ Cotton balls to choke me/ Sugargirl don’t leave me here/ Buckra’s arms to yoke me” in an inversion of the opening scene, where her own version of the same song heralds his birth. Pilate’s connection to supernaturality and flight persists even in death. When Milkman sets her body down, a bird swoops down and carries off the earring containing her name that she had worn since her father’s death. Birds are not only symbols of freedom and flight, but are often seen as bridging the human and spiritual worlds much like Pilate did.

Pilate’s death signals the completion of Milkman’s coming of age. She was portrayed throughout the novel as powerful and strong, but compassionate and ultimately a force of good. When Milkman stands back up after her death, he takes on her traits of strength, courage, and empathy and launches himself into the air without a thought as to his own safety. This moment also shows his connection to his family, something Pilate felt deeply, and his taking a decisive course of action for one of the first times in the novel. Also showing the completion of his coming of age is how Guitar refers to him in this scene. Where as Guitar had previously abbreviated “Milkman” to “Milk”, using the childish part of the nickname and dropping the part that implied adulthood and maturity, he calls Milkman “my man” in this scene, dropping the “milk” and using only the second half.

Pilate also changes the way Milkman perceives the notion of flight. The men in the book who fly (Solomon, Macon I, Milkman, Robert Smith, etc.) are portrayed ambiguously. Their flights are dramatic, almost mythical, and take them physically into the air, but at the same time cause incalculable damage to those left behind. In contrast, Pilate’s last words express her compassion, and sorrow that she hadn’t “knowed more people. I would of loved ‘em all. If I’d a knowed more, I would a loved more”. Milkman realizes here that there is more to flight than the physical state that had amazed him as a child.“Now [Milkman] knew why he loved [Pilate] so.Without ever leaving the ground, she could fly.” The defining moment of Milkman’s childhood was when he realized he could not fly, and so it’s only fitting that the moment he becomes an adult is when he realizes there are many forms flight can take.

Milkman’s reaction to Pilate’s death is also reflected in Morrison’s life. In the foreword to Song of Solomon, she writes about her father, and her reaction to his death:

He had a flattering view of me as someone interesting, capable, witty, smart, high-spirited. I did not share that view of myself, and wondered why he held it. But it was the death of that girl--the one who lived in his head--that I mourned when he died. Even more than I mourned him, I suffered the loss of the person he thought I was. (xiii)

Pilate plays the role of a mother-figure in Milkman’s life, and his reaction to her death could be read as the same as Morrison’s reaction to her father’s. Pilate saw in Milkman what he did not see in himself: someone whose life was worth saving on multiple occasions, someone worth lying for and being humiliated for, someone worth loving despite his faults. And through observing this relationship and Pilate’s unconditional love, Milkman began to learn introspection and empathy (think of the scene in the bathtub). When Pilate died, he, like Morrison, lost not only a loved one but a more positive picture of himself and who he could be. It could be argued that much like how Morrison’s father became her muse while writing Song of Solomon, Pilate is Milkman’s inspiration when he launches himself off the cliff and comes to the realization that “if you surrendered to the air, you could ride it”.