Analysis Of Milkman In Toni Morrisons Song Of Solomon

In Chapter 12 of Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, Milkman makes an offhand comment on the children playing the game depicting his family’s history, reporting: â€Å"The boy in the middle†¦ (it seemed always to be a boy) spun around with his eyes closed†¦ pointing† (Morrison 299). Like the boy at the center of the circle, Milkman blindly points his attention and â€Å"hog’s gut† in the direction of the women around him, causing them nothing but pain (216). His behavior is symptomatic of the possessive masculinity he exercises, courtesy of his father and in direct competition with the softer masculinity his aunt Pilate offers. Milkman inherits masculine possessiveness and dispassion from his father, Macon Dead, who makes a living through a cold†¦show more content†¦Moreover, Ruth’s close relationship with her father threatens Macon’s sole ownership, catapulting their friction. He comments on his daughters’ deliveries through Ruth’s father, aptly in tune with his possessiveness, adding: â€Å"She had her legs open and he was there†¦ he was a man before he was a doctor† (71). Failing to see his wife as anything but a sexual entity, he sexualizes her relationship with her father and negates the possibility of platonic intimacy between sexes. Furthermore, he emphasizes his jealousness and how it stems from having to share ownership, lamenting, â€Å"She said it had to be his decision†¦ She told me, her husband, that† (72). This reveals Macon’s belief that Ruth’s jurisdiction is not her own and must coincide with his, again defining her through marriage and stripping her of autonomy. Similarly, Milkman dehumanizes and objectifies the women around him. At the head of the fight, the novel introduces Milkman’s age as â€Å"twenty-two and†¦ had been fucking for six years,† highlighting the prominent role that sex with women plays in his maturity and erasing the individuality of the women behind the â€Å"fuck† (64). On the surface, his defense of his mother and defiance against his father conjures kindness and compassion; however, Milkman reveals his motives to be of a less pure origin. He struck his father back, not out of love for his mother, calling her â€Å"tooShow MoreRelatedEssay on Themes in Song Of Solomon2113 Words   |  9 PagesToni Morrison is one of the most talented and successful African-American authors of our time. Famous for works such as The Bluest Eye, Sula, and Beloved, Morrison has cultivated large audiences of all ethnicities and social classes with her creative style of writing. It is not Morrison’s talent o f creating new stories that attracts her fans. 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Example: â€Å"The pile of guts was a black blob of flies that buzzed like a saw. After a while these flies found Simon. Gorged, they alighted by his