Money hungry men and abandoned women

Throughout Song of Solomon, a few clear gender roles pop out to me: the men are driven by money and their personal ideals rather than reality and the women in the book often end up alone and somewhat mad.

Let's start with the men. The three main males in the novel are Milkman, Macon, and Guitar. We can see that Milkman clings to his own perception of the world rather than reality because he stays in a somewhat childlike state into his thirties and need others to point out his flaws. If he would've just accepted the reality of his situation, he would've left his father's house sooner, maybe had a family, and would be able to find fault in himself without having to have one of his sisters yell it at him. Macon Dead also suffers from a similar alternate reality. He is stuck in the delusion (or truth?) of his wife's sexual relationship to her father. Even though it is unclear what exactly went down, when Macon tells the story to his son, he neglects to tell him about how he tried desperately to kill his unborn son. Maybe if Macon would've tried to figure out the real truth, he and his wife could've returned to their previously functional relationship. Guitar is driven by how the Seven Days view the world. To many people outside the Days, he sounds more like a psychopathic serial killer than a vigilante superhero fighting to preserve the balance of the population but Guitar truly and completely believes that he and the Days fight for good. In his reality they do make a difference and though it is hard for him to care it is his duty.

The men are also driven by money, as illustrated by their quest for the gold. All three of them long for the gold while they assume Pilate, who they think has it, would be able to just hang it from the ceiling completely untouched. Milkman allows his desire for independent financial security to fly him to Pennsylvania and Virginia. I think this thirst for wealth amongst the men is because wealth means financial stability and independence and thus symbolizes freedom.

The women on the other hand often end up alone, abandoned by the people that once surrounded them and a little crazy. Again, three examples come to mind, Hagar, Pilate, and Circe. Hagar was obviously abandoned by Milkman. After he so tactlessly tosses her aside, she takes to stalking him and using any available object to kill him. She becomes obsessed with his death yet cannot kill him. She seems pretty crazy. Pilate is abandoned when her father is killed and her brother leaves her after killing the miner. She is all alone in the world but still manages to make a home for herself. She and her home are both classified as crazy by many people. She is doesn't fit the preexisting gender role of women. She is a bootlegger with a child and grandchild but no men around. Her house is loose and free, especially sexually. Finally, Circe. She is abandoned when the man of her house dies and the lady of the house commits suicide. Abandoned by all human company she becomes a unreal, ghostly old woman breeding dogs in the empty mansion. She seems crazy too. It is important to note though that the women are only perceived as crazy by some people.

Some of the characteristics of the two genders are easily observable as following these patterns. It is interesting how these two roles interact throughout the book and create the confused social interactions throughout the book. Morrison takes these general roles and presents them again and again in different scenarios to emphasize her point.