Post 8: The Struggle Against "Fate"

All the women in Song of Solomon are exposed to some isolation in their lives that effects how they approach the world around them. Both Ruth and Pilate are isolated similarly in their childhood, but the effects of this isolation manifests itself differently in the two characters.

Ruth yearns for love and tries to maintain the people or things that remind her of times when she was loved, especially the men in her life. This is why she keeps her father from death, even when he wants to die, and why she goes after Hagar when she finds out about Hagar's attempted murdering of Milkman. She clings to the things that she loves so tightly that she forces them away from her, just like how Macon cannot stand her because of how she was close to her father. By keeping Milkman close to her by breastfeeding him for so long, Ruth drives him away when he finds out exactly how he got his nickname in the first place. Ruth striving for control over her husband actually gives her less control in her own life because she pushes not only her husband, but her son and father from her as well. Ruth is connected to love and life but at the same time has a strange connection to death. She shows that she is willing to kill to save the life of her son, just like how Hagar is willing to kill Milkman so that he is unable to leave her side.

Pilate, on the other hand, learns to live without the love of men and survive on the love of her daughter and granddaughter. When she is pushed away from the pickers whom she travels with for three years because of her lack of navel, she decides that she doesn't need the love of a man to keep her alive. Pilate's fear of being pushed away by Reba's father is what makes her step back from society again and strengthen her resolve not to get involved with men or conform to other people's standards. By not requiring love, she actually draws it to her. Her values of consideratiton and respect of privacy make people comfortable around her, like how Milkman finds that he is first truly happy in her winehouse because he is surrounded by people who care for what he has to say and don't have ridiculous expectations of him. She does not expect anything from the men around her because of being deserted by both her father and her brothere. At the same time, while she learns not to require the love of men, she is willing to help women who are in similar situations to herself. When she comes to see her brother, Pilate doesn't come with any connections to men, and she doesn't intend to have that change. She stays near her brother so that she can help Ruth in her plight, not because she expects some change of heart from her brother.

The plights of Ruth and Pilate parallel the struggle that all women go through in Song of Solomon. Both women struggle to live their lives a certain way but end up managing the opposite. Ruth wants love, but she pushes all those who should love her away from her. Pilate expects nothing from the people around her, but she manages to bring together a family, both literally and figuratively, that is very loving, if not also passionate and violent. The women in this novel are like tragic heros in that whatever they try to accomplish, they manage the opposite. Ruth's struggle to make a home filled with love creates a home where both men are uncomfortable and her daughters seem empty and blank. Pilate doesn't try to surround herself by men who love, but she manages to create a sanctuary where many people feel comfortable, including Ruth herself. The women struggle to attain a certain way of life, but their struggles seem pointless because everything they do negated by the fate that seems to control them. The women in the Song of Solomon are bound by a fate stronger than that of Milkman Dead.