Song of Solomon
...ted love to a man. Born to the strong-willed Pilate and in love with Milkman, Hagar was persistently devoted to him, even though he often rejected her. Milkman treated the women in his life superficially and carelessly, as Morrison puts it: “His whole family was a bunch of crazies. Pilate singing all day and talking off the wall. Reba turning on for everything in pants. And Hagar… well she was just fine, but still she wasn’t regular. She had some queer ways. But at least they were fun and not full of secrets” (Morrison 76). Morrison’s portrayal of Milkman is that he is in a way a character of arrogance with a lack of appreciation: he truly believes that the world revolves around him and that the women consider him a gift from God. His treatment of women can be metaphorically represented by his urination on Lena’s dress early in the novel. Like the artificial roses, Milkman’s love for women is artificial, although on the surface it may appear to be sincere, all the love really represents is a shrouded image of illusion. Morrison’s portrayal of Ruth Foster Dead exposes another instance where women are underappreciated and thus the love is artificial. Ruth’s husband, Macon Jr., represents the epitome a lack of respect and affection. His treatment of women is like loving with a heart of stone, and because of that, Ruth’s desire for affection is not satisfied by any means by her relationship with Macon Jr. Because of the discontinuity within her marriage, Ruth seeks comfort and caring in her deceased father, Dr. Foster. She espouses her disappointment with the lack of affection in her relationships to Milkman, saying: “… because the fact is that I am a small woman. I don’t mean little; I mean small, and I’m small because I was pressed small. I lived in a great big house that pressed me into a small package. I had no friends, only schoolmates who wanted to touch my dresses and my white silk stockings. I was small but he was big. The only person who ever really cared whether I lived or died. Lots of people were interested in whether I lived or died, but he cared. He was a good man, Macon” (Morrison 124). Morrison’s presentation of Ruth as having to resort to seeking comfort from her deceased father instead of her husband who is still alive represents the artificiality in which Ruth’s love for Macon is reciprocated. In addition to Ruth, Morrison presents a plethora of other minor characters to represent the artificiality of the love that women in Song of Solomon encounter. Hagar, Pilate’s daughter and Milkman’s lover, was captured by her love for Milkman. When Milkman started to reject her after their mediocre relationship, she was driven crazy. Although unsuccessful, she even tried to kill Milkman. There is also a symbolic significance to Hagar’s name: she represents a servant who, after bearing Abraham’s son, is thrown out of the house by his barren wife, Sarah. Likewise, Hagar is used then abandoned by Milkman. Other examples include Ryna, Solomon’s wife. When Solomon abandons her, she goes mad. While hunting, Milkman encounters Ryna’s Gulch, where legend described the crying hush of the wind as “a woman name Ryna is cryin' in there. That’s how it got the name” (Morrison 274). Additionally, Reba’s strong sexual drive leads her into trouble with men who abuse her. Magdalene Dead’s submissive attitude in the Macon Jr. home represents the lack of love in her life. The fact that she stays home all day making artificial roses all day with I Corinthians instead of actively searching for love represent her hopeless and oppressed desire to find a love relationship in her life. Morrison’s strong influx of women who are submissive and thus prone to abandonment and disappointment allow her to amass a strong message that women of the time were not experie...