People · 1977
Too much tail. All that jewelry weighs it down. Like vanity. Can’t nobody fly with all that shit. Wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.
— Toni Morrison · Song of Solomon
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The passage compares vanity to excess weight that prevents flight. Things kept for display can also become things that hold us back. Letting them go becomes an image of gaining freedom.
Context reviewed