This is supposed to be a comment on Haley's post, but it says I've exceeded the maximum number of characters??

There are many things to consider when analyzing the role of women in Songs of Solomon. Brianna and I talked about this together to get a more concise explanation, and we found that overall, the women in the novel are suppressed by men, yet ultimately show tremendous inner strength when threatened. Those that are the strongest never fall in love, like Pilate, while the weaker fall in love, like Reba. More specifically, we described every female character's role in the story. Pilate, the strong, supernatural figure that Milkman looks to for guidance, challenges Milkman's father- the most dominant male character. While Pilate's feelings and thoughts are mainly overlooked by Morrison, she is still the ominiscent "God-like" figure who possesses a loving nature and is incapable of cruelty. These qualities make her the strong woman who she is. As a foil for Pilate, Ruth Foster Dead is a subdued, quiet, upper class woman who never really becomes independent. As Milkman's mother, Ruth is another example of a suppressed woman by society who is less assertive than Pilate and whose weird obsession and affection for her own father make her a weaker woman. However, because Ruth (and Pilate) is successful in giving birth to Milkman, she can be considered strong. Hagar, Pilate's granddaughter, is an example of an even weaker woman. As Milkman's lover, she devotes herself to him yet he frequently rejects her. She is used and abandoned, and in her plight, she kills herself because she is not loved. Hagar represents the inevitable abandonment of women who love men too much, however, through Hagar's plight (death), she demonstrates strength. Next comes Reba (Hagar's mother) whose strong sexual drive attracts her to abusive men. She is another example of a weaker woman who falls in love with the wrong men. Milkman's sister Magdalene Dead is another example of a submissive woman with inner strength. Circe, the maid/midwife for the Butler family, shows strength in providing crucial information that reconnected Milkman to his family history. Finally, Sweet, the prostitute who Milkman has a brief affair with, represents that the most gratifying relationships are rooted in treating each other as equals. This concept is virtually nonexistent in the racially embittered society. In determining the archetypes in Songs of Solomon, we discussed the following: Milkman: the unbalanced/ the other hero- he has no meaning in his life until he decides to delve into his past and discover his family's history/ his physical abnormality (one leg being longer than the other) illustrates him as an "other." He undertakes bother a quest for identity (to discover himself) and a journey in search of knowledge (to discover his family's past). When he finally sees his legs as the same length towards the end, his quest is near an end. Milkman is a hero because he experiences the greatest character metamorphosis from a selfish boy to a caring man. He takes his own plight at the end, after he discovers who he is and ultimately finds meaning in his life. Pilate is another example of a hero because even after her father dies as a result of racial sentiments, she lives on her own and perseveres in the end. The Mentors in the novel are Circe and Pilate. Circe gives indispensable insight about Milkman's history which leads him to undertake his quest/journey. Pilate serves as the God-like figure and she protects Milkman from his father when he is in his mother's womb. Pilate also later influences and inspires Milkman's journey. Additionally, Pilate and Milkman have a mentor-pupil relationship (another archetype). The Father-Son Conflict in the novel is most obviously Milkman's relationship with his father. After Milkman hits his father in order to protect his mother, his father reveals Ruth's crazy and obsessive love for her own father. As a result, weird and awkward tension main Milkman's relationship with his father. The Shadow in the novel is Guitar. He tries to kill Milkman because he believes and accuses MM of hiding the gold. Guitar ultimately betrays his friend, and therefore he must be destroyed. However, he never clearly is destroyed, and he psychologically represents Milkman's own psyche. The Creature of Nightmare in the novel is/are the white people. Guitar is an example of a character who harbors lifelong hatred for the white people. He believes that they are responsible for all evils in the world. I agree with everything Haley found and thoroughly described, and I am just going to add one more symbolic archetype to the list: Fire and Ice: As fire represents knowledge, light, life, and rebirth, it can be noted that Milkman does not have any "fire" in his life until his quest to learn his family's history is fulfilled. Additionally, his "fire" can also be his plight at the end of the novel when he and Guitar are on the cliff. Likewise, as ice represents ignorance, darkness, sterility, and death, it can indisputably be noted that Milkman's childhood is a "ice" cold one, in the sense that he has no meaning or purpose. In many ways, he lives in the darkness of the shadow of his family's past life.