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Selfishness And Greed In Toni Morrison's Song Of Solomon

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Selfishness and greed would have to be a common trait for humans. Macon Dead Jr, in Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, happens to demonstrate both of these traits. Macon Dead Jr. was the first black boy to be born in Mercy Hospital. He is also known as “Milkman,” because his mother breastfed him until he was four-years-old. Milkman is a very selfish person and would never take the time to stop to help others. He goes on a journey in search of gold, which this journey helps milkman to not only change his view of life but also to find out a few things about his family. Greed leads Milkman to this journey and finding out about his family’s history. The original plan for this journey was for milkman to stumble over some gold, which later transforms …show more content…

“It wasn’t a limp, not at all, just the suggestion of one, but it looked like an affected walk, the strut of a very young man trying to appear more sophisticated than he was.”(62). Milkman was trying to looking like something he wasn’t. If he was in a lower social class, than there would not be any need, but he cares about what others think of him. The cause of Milkman’s journey is in fact, because of Macon Dead Sr. and Milkman’s greed to get the gold. “Macon, get it and you can have half of it; go wherever you want. Get it. For both of us. Please get it, son. Get the gold. (172). There was no way Milkman could say no to his father. Pilate Dead, whose Macon Dead Sr. sister, has a green bag hanging in her home, which Macon Dead Sr. think’s it is the gold they found when they were younger. This is where Milkman's journey begins in search of the …show more content…

Cooper told Milkman that all the butler’s had died and they get exactly what they deserved. As their conversation goes on Milkman’s remarks seem to be a little more caring than rude. “I don’t care whether it did them good. The fact is they did somebody else harm.” (232). Milkman actually started to care for someone other than himself. The incident from earlier, really turned Milkman around and made him realize that he is no different from any other black person and everyone should be treated the same. This quote shows that Milkman has changed his view on things. At the start of the book, Milkman thought of himself as higher than most blacks.
Out of character, Milkman helps a stranger lift a crate. “He also knew that in all his life, Guitar had never seen Millman give anybody a hand, especially a stranger.”(296). Guitar, who was Milkman’s best friend, could not believe one bit of Milkman’s story. Guitar has always known the greedy and self-centered Milkman, up until this point .Milkman would never lend a helping hand. Even though the biggest part of his journey was finding out about his family history, Milkman matured. Milkman’s character changes from a mean and arrogant person to a caring and helpful person, unlike his

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Throughout Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, Milkman Dead’s name serves as a constant reminder of his unhealthy relationship with his mother, Ruth Dead, which in itself is a reflection of her deep-rooted issues with her own personal life that are out of Milkman’s control. The significance of Milkman’s name has multiple layers to it. For example, it is important to recall that his real name is Macon because he makes a significant effort to distance himself from Macon Jr. and prove himself to be different from him. Ruth’s breastfeeding him well past his infancy results in his being stuck with the nickname “Milkman” before he is even old enough to understand the situation.

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Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon is a novel that is set in the 20th century, Michigan which follows the life of Macon Dead III, who gets the nickname milkman. His sisters are Magdalene, who is called Lena, and First Corinthians. His parents are Ruth and Macon Dead Jr. Unlike most African American families during this time period, the Dead family were financially stable and could afford things that were deemed luxurious. Even though they had money, they still were unhappy with their lives. This shows that you can be living ,but you can also be dead.

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Pilate’s continual singing helps to foster Milkman’s growth in discovering his ancestry as well as learn about his mistreatment of people, especially women. The Sugarman song that Pilate frequently sang appears again to reveal Milkman’s ancestry to him. As the children sang a slightly different version of the song, “singing ‘Solomon don’t leave me’ instead of ‘Sugarman,’” Milkman began to piece together how the song was dealing directly with his ancestors.

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In an attempt to find the gold that would free Milkman from his monotonous life in Michigan, Milkman goes on both a physical and spiritual journey. Instead of obtaining the gold that would change his life, Milkman ultimately goes on a long quest to find his family history,

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Similar to how “will” can share a simultaneously similar but different meanings between differing time periods, the word “will” can also be perceived differently between different age groups. For example, younger individuals view “will” as more of a means of expressing themselves as “To me, will means being able to be yourself. People have a will to do something, and I think that defines each person and makes each person unique” (Letran). Rather than viewing “will” as a monetary settlement, Khoa shares his opinion that “will” conveys a person’s power to change their mentality on life and what they find valuable. To the younger population, “will” is synonymous with identity; every person has the ability and the power to portray themselves in

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When Milkman is set on his odyssey in search of gold, he uncovers his family’s

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In the beginning Ruth, Milkman’s mother, is revealed to have had an obsessive love of her father. This is one reason for Macon Dead Jr.’s eventual feelings of disgust and disdain towards his wife. Milkman’s relationship with his father is strained, as he cares more for his mother. At one

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Without familial ties and history, Milkman lacked the wisdom that comes with knowledge of the past, causing a disconnect between Milkman and his people. Milkman’s journey provides him with the answers to his identity problem allowing his family’s past to provide instruction, and protection, and a certain kind of wisdom necessary in finding his true self. Although Milkman must ultimately define himself, he is also defined by his relationships. He cannot learn these lessons in isolation but only within the context of the present community and relations of

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His social awakening also inspires a change in attitude towards the treatment of women. Initially, Milkman objectifies Hagar and treats her as an inferior, but when he encounters Sweet, he begins to reciprocate her affections and treat her with respect. Furthermore, Milkman’s change in motivation for his flight south illustrates the development of his maturity through his pursuit of his family’s history, proving that attaining wealth is no longer his sole purpose. During his time south, Milkman was maliciously pursued by Guitar. His attempted murderer of Milkman creates the illusion of a resurrection to which Milkman develops social awareness.

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He is represented with an oblivious mind, and sees everything around him irrelevant if it does not relate to himself in a way. As he continues throughout his journey, Milkman encounters, for the first time, a struggle of not getting what he wants. As he digs for the gold, for the first time, his mind shifts from the capitalistic north and embrace nature, “His watch and his two hundred dollars would be of no help out here, where all a man had was what he was born with, or had learned to use” (277). As he begins to separate himself from white culture, he embraces in his natural skills. This was just the first step to shape Milkman into embracing and seeing his ethnicity.

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She was the sign of misfortune in the entire novel: deprived of sexual interaction with her husband for twenty years, delivering Milkman as a consequence of a shock from a frightening accident, and withstanding the physical violence of her husband even in front of their children. She was never respected or seriously loved by any male characters in the novel—Milkman was ashamed and careless of her, Macon her Husband hated her, and even her father was somewhat embarrassed by their intimacy which Ruth intended. Ironically, she was the daughter of the great Doctor who has a street named after him and the wife of Macon Dead, who is the richest person in town. This contrast emphasizes the tragedy of the character that despite her superior or seemingly advantageous status quo, she still led a miserable life. Morrison quoted that she started the book as an attempt to shatter some of the common stereotypes the 1960s has brought to African American community, which, as she reckons, has left out an enormous portion of the racial character for over-emphasizing the beauty and strength and thereby

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In this scene Sethe reclaims the nourishment she was and human generosity she was denied as a slave and reclaims her identity as mother while preparing milk for the two young women she wishes to care for. The symbol of milk is prominent throughout Morrison 's novel. The milk 's symbolism allows insight into the overall themes Morrison is trying to project. Whether it be through its symbolism of motherhood, shame, or nourishment, milk throughout the narrative reveals the ways in which African Americans were stripped of their personal identities as well as their identity as

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He loses a good friend along the way, that alter him into making better decisions. He meets a couple of girls that affects him remarkably in choosing what he must do with his life. With the help of his grandparents, specifically his grandma, he is given reassurance that guide him home. Through

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