Song of Solomon

Song of Solomon

Toni Morrison 's Song of Solomon is the coming-of-age story of Milkman an African American man who grows up in Michigan during the forties fifties , and sixties . Milkman goes on a search for gold , but ends up finding his heritage and the meaning and significance of his own life During the course of the novel , several characters act as either aids or hindrances to Milkman : Ruth and Macon hinder his progress by providing false , conflicting , confusing , or upsetting information , whereas Pilate and Susan Byrd aid him by supplying the

raw information to base his hypotheses and conclusions on

Ruth and Macon , Milkman 's parents , provide information that confuses Milkman moreover , the information that Milkman receives from them is largely ambiguous in nature . Milkman 's family life , which largely shapes his personality , is unruly . From the start of Milkman 's life (and even before , Macon and Ruth aren 't in agreement about certain key facts : did Ruth have an affair with her father or didn 't she ? The distrust between Milkman 's parents causes at least part of Milkman 's loss of identity With encouragement , support , and love in his early years , Milkman could have been a better person . The neglect , animosity , and other strange treatment that Milkman receives from his parents not only turns his personality for the worse , but also hinders his reaching adulthood . The reader can see that Milkman never really becomes an adult until he is well into his thirties . The treatment that Milkman...