Before beginning his quest for gold, Milkman is seemingly content with his selfish and superficial lifestyle, lacking any sense of ambition, despite rebukes from others. His sister confronts him for his misogyny. Hagar is stunned by his harsh dismissal of her and repeatedly attempts to kill him. His best friend Guitar criticizes his lack of goals. Rather than address any of these issues, Milkman prefers to escape into his life of privilege, enjoying parties and weekends at his beach house, avoiding any sense of commitment. In particular, he cannot understand why Guitar would get caught up in issues of racial injustice. His wealth has protected him to such an extent that he has not had to suffer the brunt of racism and violence. But by the time Milkman is in his 30s, his sense of boredom is paralyzing. When Guitar goads him into pursuing the gold his father talked about, Milkman is suddenly charged into action, as the “clarion call” of the quest calls to him.

Milkman’s quest does not turn out as he expects. He never finds any gold, but he does find another treasure: the truth about his family’s name and identity. This quest energizes him, and the discovery of his family’s names and stories (such as the “song of Solomon”) allows him to become a new man, not just Macon Dead III but the great-grandson of Solomon and Ryna, the grandson of Jake and Sing.