Selfishness And Greed In Toni Morrison's Song Of Solomon

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

“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

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