Song Of Solomon: Material Inequality

I picked up my copy of Song Of Solomon, by Toni Morrison. Since I hadn't heard about this book before I had no expectations about this book. Upon reading the first few pages I found a theme that was clearly expressed. Morrison shows the racial conflict between white people and black people through the characters. One of these actions is described as, "The North was new to him and he had just begun to learn he could speak up to white people" (Morrison, 7). Through this sentence we can learn that the concept of black people being equal to white people was rather new. Since the rules regarding this equality are rather new, the separation between races still reigns over society. With these new laws, the separation and inequality between races will decrease greatly. The racial inequality will constantly appear throughout the development of the book, especially because the society in which the book takes place joins these two cultures.

The relationship presented between Macon Dead and everyone else in the story characterizes hatred. He doesn't seem to love his family. Money, the only thing that interests him, guides his life. According to Morrison: "[She] was the one person in the world he hated more than his wife in spite of the fact that she was his sister … Letting their bunchy solidity calm him. They were the keys to all the doors of his houses" (17). Morrison reveals Macon's materialistic beliefs since the only thing that calmed him were the keys to his houses. These keys symbolize his possession. If he posses these houses he will feel good about his life. Before this argument is shown to the reader, she shows that Macon has some problems with his sister. These problems have an unknown origin but the reader can infer that they regard money. Macon's ambitious dependence on money probably created these problems. Morrison depicts Macon as a materialistic person just after explaining his relationship with his sister, showing how money defines their relationship. Macon's dependence on money will be present throughout the book as well as his relationship with his sister.