You

You. To be determined…

Save me, Screw the rest. Right? When you travel on an airplane, the lady in the uniform comes up and stands up in the narrow alley way. She demonstrates the emergency protocol. Your eyes watch in ultimate boredom as she mentions “Breathing masks should be put on yourself first. You are first priority. Then, help anyone around you…” You reach home safely…helping no one.

Oh, pathos…why do you bring me down every time I see a kid in poverty? Oh, pathos…why do you dig my grave when you display a picture of a child stung with wires, struggling with cancer? Why cause this pain and suffering to me?

Remember those ads on the television. You see the ads to donate to foundations. They say “$5 dollars a month will give food for 100 kids a month”. You switch the channel. Someone else will donate. Those foundations make a lot of money anyway. Can’t you switch your channel of selfishness and self-indulgence and self-importance? I don’t think so. Do you agree?

All those speeches they give. Hilary, Abraham, Obama, Modi… Unity is everything. Together we are the white house, but alone we are the pillars. The white house is the most important house in the world, the pillars are worthless. You are not even the paint on the pillar, and so you feel your effort is not necessary. What if your family and friends thought that? What if hundreds or thousands…or millions thought that? Let’s be honest. The white house would crash and burn.

I don’t care about you. I don’t care about your problems with life. Had a breakup? Got drunk? Oh, how sad! I sympathize with you. You and your life. Its hard.

Care about those that need help. Care about their problems with life. Had no food? Or water? Oh, how sad! You will make that change…

Or…”Take care of yourself” (945).  

Marriage

Marriage. The legally or formally recognized union of two people as partners in a personal relationship (historically and in some jurisdictions specifically a union between a man and a woman).

Imagine turning on the television. An ad comes on. A guy in a suit bends down on one knee to bring out a $5000 dollar diamond ring and offer it to a girl in a red dress. Flowers fall on them as he puts the ring on her finger and she jumps up in joy. In this emotional moment, the narrator of the ad says “Buy one ring, get one free for your special one.” The ad is over, and the emotional mood is tarnished with it.

The items that symbolize marriage have to be important. Right? An engagement band isn’t a price tag, but an undying agreement of true love and eternal commitment to one another. Right? For some salesmen, marriage is equivalent to thousands of dollars. However, it is important to bring to people’s eyes that marriage is built on the idea of purity and holiness. Perhaps, the commercialization of marriage starts with the will of people. So, is it right for a person to sit in a car and say their vows through a window? Do people not have the patience to wait for their love to be renounced into a marriage? Do these generations lack the understanding of what a marriage truly is?

In Las Vegas, “the eye of the beholder… there are nineteen such wedding chapels…each offering better, faster, and, by implication, more sincere services than the next…” Chapel compete to sell their “service” in this city. Marriage should be completed fast, which ironically, is the exact opposite of the concept of marriage, an eternal bond. So when two people are ready to be bonded together eternally, can they wait for a few more moments?

Motif

Motifs. Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.

In the past few chapters of Song of Solomon, songs have played a key role. As Milkman wanders in Shalimar, he listens to a couple of children singing a song. This song serves as a connection between Milkman and his forgotten past, his unknown family history. In the past, songs served as a way to educate in the sense that many people were illiterate and stories through the form of songs were the way to learn. Hearing this song in the present is a hint that songs capture the past. For Milkman, songs have played a large role in discovering family heritage. Pilate songs about Sugarman is another instance that stimulates Milkman’s expedition to Virginia. Other than Milkman, other family members use songs to heal themselves emotionally and mentally.

Along with songs, biblical allusions are significant throughout the entire book. The book is based off of biblical figures, who have exceeded cultural limitations. Many characters are given a names and background events to match with age-old themes. For example, Hagar was Sarah’s handmaiden, who bore Abraham (Sarah’s husband) a son. After, Hagar was banished from Abraham’s sight. On the same coin, Milkman uses Hagar to his desires and pleasures, but never gives the relationship a name, and instead leaves her when he feels fulfilled. Both the men prove to be cold-hearted, selfish individuals who push women below themselves. Milkman’s true value for Hagar is to be determined until the end of the book.

 

The quote is a description of Milkman finding himself. (self-identity)