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Twisted Love in Song of Solomon


In Song of Solomon, there is the idea that love has to be twisted. Every example of love in the book depicts love as an ultra-violent force that controls and ruins lives. However, I think that the book also shows that love has to be “wrong” in order to exist. Love must be abnormal, and it won’t work out. Throughout the story Ruth is described as having a perverted relationship with her father. From what we are told, she got great satisfaction from that connection. Macon describes his wife as “laying next to him. Naked as a yard dog, kissing him.” Ruth even says that her father was “the only person who ever really cared whether I lived or died”. That even despite this unnatural pairing there was still a very intense love.

Then there is Hagar and Milkman. First Milkman and Hagar are cousins, which even back then was taboo. The rest of the town also considers this relationship to be wrong. “Ought to be shamed, the two of them. Cousins.” However, this is the only weird thing about their relationship. There is also a significant age gab between them. Milkman says he was 12 when Hagar was 17 (this is like a senior dating a subbie). Despite this Hagar has a very intense passion for Milkman, even obsession. Hagar literally loves Milkman so much it kills her.

In both cases the love is extremely strong, almost consuming but it is tabooed. However, in both cases the love is very one sided. Hagar loves Milkman, although he only wants her body. Ruth loves her father, but he seems to want a more normal relationship with her. The relationship makes her starved for love and causes her to be completely dependent on Macon Dead II. So it’s not that the relationship are the things that are wrong, but the women are at fault.

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 19, 2018 at 8:45 AM

    Interesting post. I think Macon dead 2 bears more responsibility than ruth's father. WE could debate what is normal and her relationship with her dad, but milkman asks himself What she would be like with a loving husband. In that way Macon 2 is intertwined with the relationship of ruth and her father

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  2. ElishaDecember 20, 2018 at 10:56 AM

    I agree with you - this book is strangely full of women longing for a man's love. Love is a very complicated and prevalent theme in this novel that I think you analyzed pretty well, especially through the stories of Hagar and Ruth.
    I think another example you could mention is the love between Milkman and Guitar, which I don't think diminishes at all, but rather goes sour. They all walk a fine line between hate, love, and obsession, especially Hagar, who "loves" Milkman enough to try and kill him. As they say, "hate and love are two horns on the same goat."

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  3. Sparsh S.December 23, 2018 at 6:49 PM

    It isn't just love, but every relationship in the novel is portrayed in a rather negative light. From Milkman to First Corinthians, it did not matter; the relationship always went sour. I believe Morrison did this to convey her theme of escape only being achieved through oneself. We see this at the end of the novel when Milkman realizes only he can begin this process, so he goes rogue, opting to search for the gold without Guitar or his father. This eventually leads to Milkman maturing and completing the process, finally becoming an adult and 'escaping' the chains of his family.

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  4. Geoffrey DingDecember 30, 2018 at 8:14 PM

    Good post! I think that it shows mostly how toxic relationships can be. Instead of focusing on the love and how great a relationship can be, it ends up always showing how bad a relationship can be. Just like how relationships show trust, it also shows how trust can bite you in the butt later. Overall, all these relationships in the book just went down hill into one of people taking advantage of the trust.

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  5. ChristelleDecember 31, 2018 at 7:44 AM

    I agree with this idea of twisted love and think Morrison alludes to this idea quite a bit in the story. For one, the family relationships are a mess, and the notable example is Milkman and Ruth. Ruth is at fault for breastfeeding Milkman for much too long, but there is obviously an intense love for him that she exhibits in her confrontation with Hagar. In general, I do believe that as you said Morrison has written SOS with the women at fault.

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  6. BettyJanuary 6, 2019 at 2:52 PM

    I thought your analysis of twisted love (and relationships in general) in Song of Solomon. Also, throughout the book the women seem to be the more obsessive ones (Hagar, Ruth, Ryna, etc). Maybe it's just me, but I didn't feel like the women were portrayed as solely at fault. Milkman was also responsible for Hagar's death.

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