Chapter 4/5
TAKE NOTE AND SELECT APPROPRIATELY
Hagar: Jan-April Birthdays
Pilate: May-August birthdays
Ruth: Sept. - Dec. Birthdays
For your assigned character (Hagar, Pilate, Ruth), please
answer the following question. Take note of AT LEAST one significant
quotation (more is better). You may refer to evidence in
ch. 4 that relates to this question, if you wish.
What issues and themes does Morrison want to explore through
the women of Song of Solomon? What
recurring motifs and images (concerning women) do you see? How are they significant? Do the stories/significant events of chapter
5 make you sympathize with your assigned character? Why or why not?Be complete and thorough in your response
TAKE NOTE AND SELECT APPROPRIATELY
Hagar within her relationship with Milkman is commitment and dependence. “She placed duty squarely in the middle of their relationship; he tried to think of a way out. Morrison commits to exploring the injustices and violence towards women. Either emotional, or physical, they’ve been traumatized in some way. The image of being alone taunts Hagar. While men like Milkman would just use her emotions. The women are still too dependent just to feel lavish and fulfilled. This in turn, does not make me feel any sympathy for them as they are not strong and independent like Pilate. She is free, and lives to fulfill herself alone, and not with the help of others.
ReplyDeleteToni Morrison wants to explore the different type of women in the world through SOS. All of the women in the book came from different backgrounds and each respond differently to a situation. Pilate is a poor, independent woman who is satisfied with her life, Ruth is an insecure woman who has little education and is abused by her husband, Reba is a desperate woman who is always vying for a man’s attention and buying them gifts, and Hagar is a beautiful, spoiled girl, often given the best quality of things. Each woman represents a percentage of women in reality. “Reba’s new man friend had asked her for a small loan...The man, who had received two or three nice presents from her unasked.”
ReplyDeleteI see that women are domesticated by men and are seen as sexual figures to men. In my opinion, Pilate is the only woman not concerned with having a man in her life and is very independent. Ruth is a housewife always trying to satisfy Macon and has little education, Reba constantly brings men home and never has a steady boyfriend, and Hagar is a beautiful woman who was unhealthily in love with Milkman. Her love for him drives her to change her looks and eventually to her death.“You see, darlin, that there is the only child i got. The first baby I ever had, and if you could turn around and see my face, which of course you can’t cause my hand might slip, you’d know she’s also the last.”
The images are significant because in majority of plays, novels and movies, these are the representations they portray of women. These women could be actual representations of real women. Some do lust after men and let men domesticate them and drive themselves crazy to the point of death. It could have also been wheat Morrison was seeing around her growing up or in college. It’s crazy what you would do for “love” or to get “love.”
The stories in Chapter 5 do make me sympathize with Pilate because I figure out why she acts the way she does. She never had a steady home and people often ostracized her because she didn’t have a navel. Eventually she settled on an island and slept with a good man and they conceived Reba. Even though she loved him, she refused to marry him because she didn’t want to become dependent on him. Her mindset her whole life was to be independent and she stuck to it. She is a strong person who has the ability to adapt to new environments quickly. “Again she took a man to bed, and again was expelled… They simply left her one day, moved out while she was in town buying thread. She got back to campground to find nothing but a dying fire, a bag of rocks and her geography book propped up on a tree. She was a natural healer, and among quarreling drunks and fighting women she could hold her own.
Morrison explores women's role in a society primarily dominated by men. Morrison also compares the independence of women to those trapped by men and marriage.
ReplyDeleteA reader can clearly distinguish the attitudes of women who are dependent on men of women who are completely independent. Morrison particularly described Ruth as upset and trapped in her marriage with Macon. Ruth describes being inferior and "small". According to her she, "lived in a great house that pressed [her] into a small package." As a result of her isolation from Macon, Ruth was also denied sexual love and expression so much that she,"couldn't stand it anymore." She actually depends on Pilate's strength to fool Macon and conceive Milkman. Ruth admits,"I wouldn't have been strong enough without [Pilate]."
Because of the events that took place in chapter 5, I do sympathize with Ruth. She feels constantly undermined by her husband and she fears losing her son to Macon’s “lies”. Ruth also lost the only man who “really cared whether [she] lived or died”, her father. As twisted as that seems, the is also a loss of love that impacts Ruth all throughout her life. Although Ruth could’ve done things such as expressing her sadness for her father's passing and breastfeeding Milkman to regain a sense of belonging , Ruth deserves some sort of sympathy.
In Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison explores the idea of dependence and insecurity through the women in the novel. Ruth was married to Macon Dead Jr. and their relationship came at a standstill a few years after their marriage. After discovering her laying with her dead father, Macon is filled with disgust at the thought of Ruth. There is no intimacy between them and this led to Ruth feeling unwanted through these years. The last time she felt a sense of want from Macon was when they conceived Milkman as now she is “long deprived of sex, long dependent on self-manipulation, she saw her son’s imminent death as the annihilation of the last occasion she had been made love to.” A women can only feel insecure after she has been emotionally abused by one who she loved. The repulse from a man can only make one feel unwanted and unloved. Despite these dark emotions Ruth remains by Macon’s side because she does not want to part from the life he provides her. His success gave her a lavish life and a family that every women wanted. Everything was all superficial but the emotions behind this family was all filled with darkness, confusion, and hatred.
ReplyDeleteThe continuous issue of the abandonment and the rejection of women in the novel reveal the added suffering they face. They are already oppressed by society but also face the rejection from men that they love. Ruth faces the abandonment of love from Macon for years yet she still hopes for a day where he will soon see her with so much lust in his eyes. The women hold responsibility for their families and themselves meanwhile men would only have to worry about themselves. The gender roles present in this novel perceive men and women on a different scale. Men are viewed as strong heroes while women are depicted as weak, ill tempered, and as burdens.
The events in chapter five led me to sympathize with Ruth when she expresses that she has seen Milkman as her “single triumph” and as she revealed that her father was the person that cared for her. This depicts how alone and unwanted Ruth felt when Macon expedited her father’s death. The loneliness she reveals creates a dark and empty mood that makes me sympathize with her. Ruth could not have any influence on how Macon treated her because he was a selfish and abusive man. I sympathize with her never ending hope for love in Macon and her never ending love for her son Milkman.
In the relationship of Hagar and Milkman, Hagar appears to be dull and dependent toward Milkman and their relationship. Later in the chapter Milkman describes Hagar as once being "unpredictable and surprising" and now Hagar is more dependent upon Milkman's love and boring in her love. Morrison illustrates Milkman and Hagar's relationship as an abusive and dependent relationship where both the women and men are being used. The women seek companionship and protection, while men want someone to fulfill their lust such as how Milkman stated " Thank you very much for sleeping with me for fourteen years, but goodbye." Because of Hagar's dependence on Milkman's love, I do not feel sympathy towards her. Simply because Pilate is independent and clearly shows women do not need men to have a fulfilled life.
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ReplyDeleteToni Morrison wants to explore multiple types of women in the book song of Solomon and each of the women share the same theme as well as have their own theme. Each of the main women in the book Song of Solomon come from different backgrounds and are raised differently and therefore their lives are spent differently. Each of the women are connected to men in a certain way and their lives are dependent on how they are connected to the men in their lives. Pilate, unlike Ruth and Hagar is independent and doesn’t need a man in her life including her brother Macon, who hates her unconditionally despite the family bond that they share. Pilate does not allow others to harm her or her family. “He would have known not to fool with anything that belonged to Pilate.”
ReplyDeleteThe occurring image that reappear throughout the novel is oppression of women and how even though women are oppressed some still rise above the stereotypes and provide for themselves and others without help. Dependability and whether or not a man influences a woman are motifs that reoccur in this book. Pilate in my opinion is one of the few if not the only female in the book who is independent and does not rely on a man in order to provide for her and her children. These certain images and motifs are important because they either support or disrupt the stereotypes of women. In Pilate’s case she disrupts the stereotypes of women being dependent on men, inferring that women are incapable of being their own person. I do sympathize with Pilate in chapter 5 because Pilate did not have a stable home, she was different because she “did not have a navel”, and she was left because she had slept with a man that she did not married and had a child. She loved the father of Reba, however she could not marry him because she did not want to become dependent on him causing her to differ from who she portrays herself as, and “It isolated her. Already without family, she was further isolated from her people”.
-lauren brown
Morrison explores the lust for money, patience, and bottled anger through Ruth. Throughout chapters 1 and five we see foils of Ruth such as Pilate; who is entirely independent and strong willed.Completely the opposite of Ruth whom ;is completely dependent upon Macon and oppressed by him as well through her own actions and by her children." what harm did I do you on my knees," sympathizes to pathos through an image of prayer. To create a tone of remorse and pity towards Ruth because of her background ,daddy issues and lack of love from everyone else .In this Morrison gives Ruth a voice. She is kept silent throughout the novel to portray her character as submissive but in intelligent. -Jennifer Morales
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ReplyDeleteIn Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison expresses women's role in a society mainly dominated by men. In this novel, there are many different types of women that share a common theme as well as their own theme due to the various backgrounds and family history. We see these women go mad when losing their lovers or husbands and the agony they feel when being denied. Ruth married at a young age and stopped having sexual relationships with Macon because he grew out of love with her after finding her next to her father. He criticizes her cooking and even her existence. “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”, describes how isolated and trapped Ruth is in her marriage.
ReplyDeleteRuth’s only men that actually “ cared whether she lived or died” was her father. There are two sides to the story about when Ruth was saying her last goodbye to her father. Macon told Milkman that she was l I got next to him naked while sucking on his fingers and Ruth said she was kneeling next to him while kissing his fingers. The fact is that Ruth was sheltered by her father.
From the stories of chapter 5, I do sympathize Ruth because she's lost the only man that ever cared for her and is constantly hurting due to Macon’s rejection and abandonment. She also fears of losing Milkman’s love to Macon’s lies. Ruth expresses such a dark and loneliness mood and even though this family is filled with emptiness, she decides to stay with Macon after everything because she refuses to be away from the life that he provides her with.
-Liset Gamboa
Absence of love, unrequited love, dependency, obsession, weakness, these are issues and themes explored by Toni Morrison in Song of Solomon. In chapter four, Hagar remarks,"We are weak", and, "Well, muscles strength is one thing. I meant women are weak in other ways." Morrison is describing the stereotypical feminine flaws; lack of strength, and control over emotion. However, using Hagar, Morrison expounds on the flaws of women and depicts women as mentally and emotionally distraught.
ReplyDeleteAs Milkman and Hagar's relationship develops, Hagar becomes increasingly infatuated with Milkman, or obsessed. Also, in paragraph four, Milkman describes Hagar as, "the third bottle", "the one you drink because it's there, because it can't hurt, and because what difference does it make?" By thinking this, Milkman portrays Hagar, and women, as objects, and makes light of Hagar's commitment to him. Casting Hagar's love, as a burden. This burden steadily grows and becomes more of the reoccurring motifs: obsession, dependency, and loneliness. Morrison uses Hagar to portray women as weak, in need of protection, and menatally and emotionally unstable.
In paragraph five, when Hagar relentlessly stalked Milkman, and failed to kill him, I could not and still can't sympathize with her. With Pilate as a role model and contrasting figure, her strength and independence emphasizes the derangement, and lunacy in Hagar's behavior.
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Deletewhile i agree with most of the themes you listed, i think that an integral one missed is the victimization of women which is often perpetuated at the hands of men. This is a subtle theme that's central to all the women throughout the novel. The result of this victimization is the false labeling of the women's reaction towards this victimization as being crazy, dependent, weak and obsessive. The women within this novel are dealt a stack of bad cards that despite whatever actions taken to change their luck, the end result is always them ending up loosing. Take Ruth for instance. In chapter five we discover the past behind Ruth. Events such as the passing of her father,and Macon's relentless emotional and physical abuse,-"he killed my father, and he tried to kill you"(pg 124)-all work negatively to shape the woman Ruth is.With these events being heavily incorporated within in her life, Ruth does the best she can to live with the emotional distress by visiting her dead father and nursing her son until the age of 6. Both these things she does in private. While the latter can be viewed as her being a sexual deviant, it's unfair to criticize her for the method she implements for coping. This criticism not only comes from her husband, but her son as well when he says "you come to lay..on your father's grave..spending a night..with your father?"(pg 123).Ruth can't even escape the torment she's victimized with without facing more backlash for attempting to deal with her problems. Ruth states that "the only person who cared whether i lived or died"(pg 124) was her deceased father. Having nothing to hold onto in reference to love,and having to constantly be a victim makes me sympathize with Ruth.
DeleteIn the book Song of Solomen author Tony Morrison shows a constant lack of appreciation for the female characters. In the book Ruth is depicted as helpless and worthless to her husband, she also is dependent upon him and his wealth. Another character that follows this model is Hagar she is dependent upon Milkmans love and would die for it. Contrary to the common female in the book the character Pilate is strong, educated, independent and is a rock in the community. Even Macon us afraid of her saying that "everyrhing belongs to Pilate" so she changes the perspective of the female in this novel
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