Maturation Theme in the Song of SolomonAlthough the Song of Solomon is generally seen as a myth of male maturation, it also contains the subtext of Pilate's rite of passage and ritual of cultural immersion maturation. In his story is the process by which he acquires the values ​​that will sustain Milkman and, by extension, the black community. Pilate's initiation occurs long before Milkman's. Having grown up in relative isolation in Lincoln's Edenic Paradise, Pilate is suddenly and cruelly cast out as an orphan into the greater reality. Her search for acceptance, however, turns into rejection, her navelless belly into a seed of exclusion. Thus, in a reversal of the male myth, his initiation does not lead to integration into the community but to isolation from it. He must reach an individual, albeit parallel, level of maturity: "When he realized what his situation in the world was and probably always would be, he threw away every ass... half a paper... er at the example of a good life of Macon Dead. ... Represents the antithesis of his brother's lifestyle, although they essentially share the same values: hard work, education and family values.Work Cited: Heinze, Denise. The "Double Consciousness" Dilemma: Toni Morrison's Novels, University of Georgia Press: Athens and London, 1993. Morrison, Toni New York: Penguin Books, 1987.