Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Emancipation of the Psyche

I think the idea of the "emancipation of the black psyche" is brilliant, and i immediatly associated it with Milkman in Song of Solomon. MLK effectively emancipated the black psyche by showing the community that it could be done, that things could happen. Milkman for the first time in his life becomes emancipated when he travels South and when everything that he has brought with him becomes useless: money, suitcase, clothes, etc.. Because of this, he learns (in the woods, specifically) who he really is and what he wants. He emerges from the swamp of self-pity he had been living in and actually becomes someone. It seems that he has woken up from a thirty some odd year slumber. He separates himself from his father's greediness and realizes what he did to Hagar, who loved him selflessly. He changes and becomes emancipated because, like the black community behind MLK, he finally has something to do, something to fight for. He wants to find his background. Without the restraints of his home and family, he becomes independent and finds his self. With the leadership of Dr. King, the black community realizes that they can finally and actively face the monster that is segregation, and because they have something to go after, become emancipated. This emancipation comes about by someone leading the way; many people pointed Milkman South, and many people including MLK led the black people. However as soon as the way is shown, the people go on their own. They have become emancipated, the biggest step, and now have all the strength, knowledge, and capacity to do with it what they will.

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