AN ANALYSIS ON THE CHILDREN’S ATTITUDES
TOWARDS THE DEATH OF THEIR FATHER
AS REFLECTED IN TONI MORRISON’S
SONG OF SOLOMON
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Education
ARIADNE DESY NATALIA SIBUEA Student Number: 981214047
ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
PAGE OF TITLE ……… i
PAGE OF APPROVAL ……….. ii
PAGE OF BOARD EXAMINERS ………. iii
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ………. iv
PAGE OF DEDICATION ………... v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………. vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……… viii
ABSTRACT ………. xi
ABSTRAK ……… xii
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ……… 1
1.1 Background of the Study …………..……… 1
1.2 Objectives of the Study .……… 5
1.3 Problem Formulation ……… 6
1.4 Benefit of the Study ………. 6
1.5 Definitions of Terms ……… 6
CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ………. 8
2.1 Review on the Theory of Literature ………. 8
2.1.1 Theory of Critical Approaches ………... 8
2.1.3 Theory of Characterization ………. 11
2.2 Review on the Theory of the Related Study …………. 14
2.2.1 Death and its Meanings ……….. 14
2.2.2 Attitudes ………. 15
2.2.3 The Importance of Family on Children’s Development ……… 17
2.2.4 Children’s Emotional Development ……… 19
2.2.5 Fear and Grief ……….. 21
2.2.5.1 Fear ………. 21
2.2.5.2 Grief ……… 24
2.3 Criticisms ……….. 24
CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY ………. 29
3.1 Subject Matter ……… 29
3.2 Approach ……… 29
3.3 Procedures ……….. 30
3.4 Sources ……… 31
CHAPTER 4. ANALYSIS ……….. 32
4.1 The Characterization of the Characters ………. 32
4.1.1 The Character of Macon Dead II ………. 33
4.1.2 The Character of Pilate Dead ……….. 38
4.2 The Psychological Effects of the Death of Macon Dead II
and Their Children ……… 41
4.2.1 Macon Dead II ………. 42
4.2.2 Pilate Dead ………... 47
4.2.3 The Comparison of Macon Dead II and Pilate Dead’s Attitudes ………... 52
CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS ………. 54
5.1 Conclusion ………... 54
5.2 Suggestions ……….. 56
5.2.1 Suggestions for Further Researchers …………. 56
5.2.2 Suggestions for the Implementation of Teaching English through Literature ……….. 56
5.2.2.1 The Implementation of Teaching Reading through Song of Solomon ……….. 57
5.2.2.2 The Implementation of Teaching Speaking through Song of Solomon ……….. 58
BIBLIOGRAPHY ……….. 60
APPENDICES ……… 62
APPENDIX 1 Summary of the Novel ……… 62
APPENDIX 2 Toni Morrison and her Works ………. 65
APPENDIX 3 The Implementation of Teaching Reading ….. 67
ABSTRACT
Sibuea, Ariadne Desy Natalia (2003). “An Analysis on the Children’s Attitudes towards the Death of Their Father as Reflected in Toni Morrison’s Song
of Solomon”. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
In reading Song of Solomon, I found that the death of someone we love really affects us. The characters of Macon Dead II and Pilate Dead are described by the author to convey the message of how we should face death especially the death of someone we love. The responses are reflected in their attitudes and they interest me because I find that every person has his or her own attitude towards the death of someone he or she loves.
This study is aimed to find out: 1) the ways Macon Dead II and Pilate Dead respond to the death of their father and 2) the psychological effects of the death of Macon Dead II and Pilate Dead’s father towards themselves, their family, and their children.
In conducting this study, I employed a library study. I employed the theory of character and characterization to answer the first problem. I used the theory of character and characterization to explore the characters’ characterizations that reflected their responses to the death of their father. To answer the second problem, I used the psychological approach. I applied the psychological approach in this thesis because I would like to explore the psychological effects of the death of the characters’ father towards themselves, their family, and their children.
ABSTRAK
Sibuea, Ariadne Desy Natalia (2003). “An Analysis on the Children’s Attitudes towards the Death of Their Father as Reflected in Toni Morrison’s Song
of Solomon”.Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
Dalam membaca Song of Solomon, saya menemukan bahwa kematian seseorang yang kita cintai sangat mempengaruhi kita. Karakter Macon Dead II dan Pilate Dead digambarkan oleh pengarang untuk menyampaikan pesan tentang bagaimana kita seharusnya menghadapi kematian khususnya kematian seseorang yang kita cintai. Respon para karakter dicerminkan dalam sikap mereka dan hal ini menarik perhatian saya karena saya menemukan bahwa masing-masing orang memiliki sikap terhadap kematian seseorang yang dia cintai.
Studi ini bertujuan untuk membahas tentang: 1) cara-cara Macon Dead II dan Pilate Dead menanggapi kematian ayah mereka dan 2) akibat-akibat yang bersifat psikologi dari kematian ayah Macon Dead II dan Pilate Dead terhadap diri mereka, keluarga mereka, dan anak-anak mereka.
Dalam menulis skripsi ini, saya menggunakan studi pustaka. Saya menggunakan teori tentang karakter dan karakterisasi untuk menjawab batasan masalah yang pertama. Saya menggunakan teori karakter dan karakterisasi untuk memahami karakterisasi para karakter yang mencerminkan tanggapan-tanggapan mereka terhadap kematian ayah mereka. Untuk menjawab masalah yang kedua, saya menggunakan pendekatan psikologi. Alasan mengapa saya menggunakan pendekatan psikologi dalam skripsi ini adalah karena saya ingin memahami pengaruh-pengaruh yang bersifat psikologi dari kematian ayah para karakter terhadap diri mereka, keluarga mereka, dan anak-anak mereka.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter consists of five points. The first is the background of the
study which talks about the reasons why I chose the topic of the study. The second
is the problem formulation which talks about the problems of the study. The third
part talks about the objectives of the study. The fourth part talks about the
advantage of the study. The fifth talks about the terms used in this study.
1.1 Background of Study
Death certainly happens at the end of our life. Whoever we are, rich or
poor, saints or sinners, there is nothing we can do when it comes to us. Cicero, as
quoted by Aiken, states that
No man can be ignorant that he must die,
Nor be sure that he may not this very day (Aiken, 1994: 3).
Ready or not, we have to face death when it takes away our life and
forces us to leave behind everything we have in this world. This is the fact that
makes most of us afraid of death. The fear of death does not happen only for these
days, but it has been happening since long time ago. People from old cultures
agree that death is something unpleasant and will probably always be. They
assosiate it with everything bad, everything that makes them frightened,
everything that deals with punishment. Death is therefore pictured as something
associated with a bad act, a frightening happening, something that in itself calls for
retribution and punishment" (Kubler-Ross, 1969: 2). People think about death
negatively. They consider it as something that must be avoided since it brings
about misery.
However, not all people think that death is something frightening. A lot of
philosophers view that it is something natural. It happens as part of our life. Hence,
we must face it at the end of our life without being afraid. Epicurus and Leonardo
da Vinci stress that death is something that we should not be afraid of. We should
take it as something that ends our life (Aiken, 1994: 182).
From the discussion above, we can see that there are different opinions
about death. However, we have to understand that it has one similarity that is
bringing effects on those who lose someone because of it. Losing someone,
especially the one we love, is not an easy experience to face. Suddenly, we cannot
be with him anymore. We cannot feel his existence around us. We cannot see, talk,
laugh, and get angry with him. We cannot even touch him anymore. Death takes
all those experiences away and it really makes us hurt and feel lost, the feeling that
can put us in deep grief and sadness.
This makes death become a neverending theme in literature. A lot of
poets, authors, and playwrights write about it because it has been a mysterious
entity for them and they have been curious about it. Walt Whitman, an American
poet, wrote about a bird losing his mate in one of his poems entitled "Out of the
Cradle Endlessly Rocking", which reveals the meaning of life and death. Arthur
Miller, an American playwright, wrote a play entitled "The Death of a Salesman",
cannot fulfill his dreams.
Toni Morrison, one of African American woman writers, also wrote a
novel related to death. The title of her novel is Song of Solomon. In this novel, she
talks about people who have to face the death of someone they love. Macon Dead
II and Pilate Dead are the characters who have to cope with their father's death. It
is a very bad experience for them since they see their father get shot. It makes
them sad and terrified. On the other hand, they have to survive and continue their
life.
Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, according to Hirsch, as quoted by
Matus, is a novel about fathers, or more specifically, the loss of fathers (Matus,
1998: 72). All characters in the novel lose their fathers. The condition influences
their life because fathers are important for them. By losing their fathers, the
characters’ life become incomplete. They feel emptiness inside of them that can
only be filled by the existence of a father. To children, a father represents the
family history and for those who do not know their family history will become
people who do not have identities.
The title of the novel, Song of Solomon, basically tells the readers about
the history of Solomon’s family, which is told in the form of a song. Solomon is
the great-grandfather or Milkman Dead, the main character in the novel, who flies
away to Africa because he cannot bear slavery and leaves behind his family. By
doing so, Solomon makes his children lose their father and so do his grandchildren
and great-grandchildren. Losing their father makes them lose their identity because
they do not know their family history. At the end of the novel, Milkman Dead is
family. Here is the song of Solomon:
Jake the only son of Solomon
Come booba yalle, come booba tambee Whirled about and touched the sun Come konka yalle, come konka tambee
Left that baby in a white man’s house Come booba yalle, come booba tambee Heddy took him to a red man’s house Come konka yalle, come booba tambee
Black lady fell down on the ground Come booba yalle, come booba tambee Threw her body all around
Come konka yalle, come konka tambee
Solomon and Ryna Belali Shalut Yaruba Medina Muhammet too. Nestor Kalina Saraka cake.
Twenty-one children, the last one Jake!
O Solomon don’t leave me here Cotton balls to choke me O Solomon don’t leave me here Buckra’s arms to yoke me
Solomon done fly, Solomon done gone
Solomon cutt across the sky, Solomon gone home.(p. 303)
In Song of Solomon, we can see that losing someone we love will affect
ourselves and our life automatically. Whether the effects will turn out to be
positive or negative, it depends on us. It depends on how we cope with it. It deals
with our attitudes in facing death itself. We can accept death as something natural
that happens at the end of our life or we can reject it and then blame on it because
it brings about grief and misery in our life as time goes by. Positive and negative
attitudes will cause certain effects which will influence our life. That is why it is
important for us to behave wisely toward every experience that happens in our life,
The death of Macon Dead II’s and Pilate Dead’s father also affects them
and also their life. However, the way they cope with it is different from each other.
Macon Dead II represents a person who responds negatively and Pilate represents
a person who responds positively. The difference does not only influence their
own life, but also their family and children.
Besides the way they respond to death, I found another thing that is
interesting to discuss further. The fact that Macon Dead II is a man and Pilate
Dead is a woman makes me think whether men can be stronger than women in
facing death. People tend to think that women are weak compared to men.
Montagu in his book The Natural Superiority of Women says that
… women, the second-class citizens of a patriarchal society. Women, it was alleged, had smaller brains than men, and less intelligence; they were more emotional and unstable; in a crisis you could always rely upon them to swoon or become otherwise helpless; they were weak and sickly creatures; they had little judgement and less sense; they could not be entrusted with the handling of money; and as for the world outside, there they could be employed only at the most menial and routine task (p. 21).
Here, I would like to see whether the opinion is also correct related to the
moment when men and women have to face the death of someone they love since
women are considered more emotional than men.
Even though the major theme of this novel is not the effects of a death of
a father, and Macon Dead II and Pilate Dead are not the major characters, I am
interested in discussing them further. It is because I believe that the theme and the
characters can teach us the values of life especially the values of losing someone
1.2 Objectives of the Study
Everybody will die. This is a certainty that we cannot deny, but the
important point is how we respond to the death of someone we love. It is necessary
for us to grieve, but we must remember that we cannot grieve all the time for the
rest of our life. We must understand that losing someone we love does affect
ourselves and also our life, but it does not have to make us stop continuing our life.
The way the characters in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon respond to
the loss of their father can be taken as an example for us. Thus, in this thesis I
would like to discuss the ways Macon Dead II and Pilate Dead respond to the
death of their father. I also would like to find out the psychological consequences
of the attitudes towards the death of their father for themselves, their family, and
their children.
1.3 Problem Formulation
1. How do Macon Dead II and Pilate respond to the death of their father?
2. How do the different attitudes toward the death of their father affect themselves,
their family, and their children psychologically?
1.4 Benefit of the Study
Death is part of our life. It is something that all of us must face in the end
of our life. We cannot avoid it when it comes to us or to someone we love. We
also cannot deny that we will feel really sad when someone we love dies.
However, we must be strong in facing the death of someone we love. It means that
around us.
Hopefully, the focus of this thesis, that is to find out how to cope with the
loss of someone we love, will give benefits both for me as the writer and the
readers.
1.5 Definitions of Terms
In this thesis, there are two terms that need to be defined in order to avoid
misinterpretation and give a clear understanding about the theme. The first term is
attitudes. According to Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current
English, attitude is "way of feeling, thinking or behaving" (p. 50). Fazio and
Roskos-Ewoldsen state that attitudes mean associations between attitude objects
(virtually any aspect of the social works) and evaluations of those objects (Baron
and Byrne, 1997: 112). Judd et al. write that attitudes mean lasting evaluations of
various aspects of the social world-evaluations that are stored in memory (Baron
and Byrne, 1997: 112). I conclude that attitudes are the ways people judge events
that happen in their life based on their knowledge and experiences of life.
The second term is death. According to Webster's New Twentieth
Century Dictionary, death means the act of fact dying: permanent cessation of life
in a person, animal, or plant, in which all vital functions cease permanently (p.
467). So, death in this study means the condition of human being in which he is
not alive anymore.
The third term is children. According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary, children means son or daughter (of any age) (p. 194).
death especially the death of a father. As we know, death is something frightening
for most of us and to children, it is something that they are not familiar with even
do not know yet. Therefore, I would like to analyze how they respond to death
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter consists of two parts. The first is the review of the theory on
literature, more specifically the theory of critical approaches, the theory of
character, and the theory of characterization The second is the review of related
studies which talk about the psychology about death, attitudes, children and
family.
2.1 Review on the Theory of Literature
This part consists of some theories related to literature that support my
analysis. They are: theory of critical approaches, theory of character, and theory of
characterization.
2.1.1 Theory of Critical Approaches
Rohrberger and Woods in their book Reading and Writing About
Literature say that literature has "the esthetic response". It is "the response to
literature as an art form, and the response is to its beauty" (1971: 3). The readers of
literary works have to have "the esthetic response" so that they can enjoy and
understand the literary works.
Rohrberger and Woods explain that there are five approaches concerning
the study on literature, namely the formalist approach, the biographical approach,
psychological approach. They suggest readers of literary works to use the
approaches in conducting a study related to literature in order to make the readers
able "to receive some of the positive esthetic values". The approaches are also
used as "the means" for the readers so that they can understand how literature is
made and the meaning of it (1971: 6).
The first approach is "the formalist approach", which emphasizes the
whole of the literary work. It concentrates mostly on "the esthetic value". This
approach is related to "demonstrating the harmonious involvement of all the parts
to the whole and with pointing out how meaning is derived from structure and how
matters of technique determine structure" (1971: 6-7).
The second approach is "the biographical approach" which views that
someone's biography can be a basis of a literary work. Therefore, readers try to
learn as much as possible about the author's life in order to be able to understand
his works better. The author's biography will provide all the background of his
work which will lead the readers to a better understanding of the work itself (1971:
8).
The third approach is "the sociocultural-historical approach". It insists
that things and events that happen in a society have a great contribution to a
literary work. Therefore, it is necessary to make a careful study of the social
surroundings of a literary work (1971: 9).
The fourth approach is "the mythopoeic approach". People who use this
approach try to find some "universally recurrent patterns of human thought",
which they believe is a basis of a literary work. What is meant by "universally
myths and folk rites and are so basic to human thought that they have meaning for
all men" (1971: 9).
The fifth approach is "the psychological approach". This approach uses
the theories on psychology in analyzing a literary work. By doing so, the readers
are expected to be able to understand a literary work better (1971: 13).
In conducting this study, I use the psychological approach. The reason
why I chose this approach is because it can support me in analyzing and answering
the formulated problems that are presented in the problem formulation. I apply
some theories of psychology in order to be able to find out the psychological
consequences of the characters in responding the death of their father.
2.1.2 Theory of Character
Stanton states in his book An Introduction to Fiction (1957: 17) that there
are two definitions that emerge when we hear the term “character”. First, it means
"the individuals who appear in the story". Here, we can refer to people in a story.
Second, it means "the mixture of interests, desires, emotions, and moral principles
that makes up each of these individuals". In other words, it means the
characteristics of people in a story. For example, kind-hearted, polite, and clumsy.
The statement is supported by Baldick in his book The Concise Oxford
Dictionary of Literary Terms. He says that the term character has two meanings.
First, it is "a personage in a narrative or dramatic work". Second, it is "a kind of
prose sketch briefly describing some recognizable type of person" (1957: 33).
E.M. Forster divides the term "character" into two, "flat and round", in his
round a single idea or quality. The really flat character can be expressed in one
sentence." Since "flat characters" are simply described by the author in a novel,
they have two advantages. First, they are "easily recognized whenever they come
in". Second, they are "easily remembered by the reader afterwards" (1974: 47-48).
Meanwhile, what is meant by "round characters" is that they "cannot be
summed up in a single phrase". It is because they have "connection with the great
scenes through which they passed and as modified by those scenes”. It is to say
that "round characters" are described to have a complex personality by the author
in a novel. This complex personality is shaped and influenced by the things that
happen around them (1974: 48).
2.1.3 Theory of Characterization
Baldick (1990: 34) defines the term characterization as "the representation
of persons in narrative and dramatic works". There are two methods that can be
used in order to reveal the characters' personality, they are: "direct methods like
the attribution of qualities in description or commentary, and indirect (or
'dramatic') methods inviting readers to infer qualities from characters' actions,
speech, or appearance".
According to Murphy in his book Understanding Unseen, there are nine
methods used in understanding a character in a novel.
1. Personal description
In this method, "the author can describe a person's appearance and
clothes" (p. 161). By understanding the physical description of a
example, "her shoelaces undone, a knitted cap pulled down over her
forehead, bringing her foolish earring and sickening smell into the
kitchen" (Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, p. 20).
2. Character as seen by another
Instead of describing a character directly the author can describe him
through the eyes and opinions of another" (p. 162). Other characters
have their own judgement to a character. Their judgement helps the
readers know the personality of the character. For example,
"Sometimes I think Wolf Larsen mad, or half-mad at least, what of
his strange moods vagaries" (Jack London's The Sea Wolf, p. 75).
3. Speech
By using this method, "the author can give us an insight into the
character of one of the persons in the book through what that person
says" (p. 164). What is said by a character in any situations in a novel
shows what kind of a person he is to the readers. For example, "I'm
aiming to get my money down. He can go on and die up there if he
wants to. But if he don't toss me my rent, I'm going to blow him out
of that window" (Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, p. 24).
4. Past life
What is meant by this is "…the author can give us a clue to events
that have helped to shape a person's character. This can be done by
direct comment by the author, through the person's thoughts, through
his conversation or through the medium of another person" (p.166).
becomes a factor that shapes his personality. For example, the death
of his father makes Macon Dead become a cruel landlord (Toni
Morrison's Song of Solomon).
5. Conversation of others
Here, "the author can also give us clues to a person's character
through the conversations of other people and the things they say
about him" (p. 167). In understanding a character's personality, the
readers can also pay attention to what other characters in a novel
utter. It is important since their utterance can help the readers know a
character better. For example, Mrs Bains' opinion about Macon Dead
"a nigger in business is a terrible thing to see. A terrible, terrible thing
to see" (Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, p. 22).
6. Reactions
By using this method, "the author can also give us a clue to a person's
character by letting us know how that person reacts to various
situations and events" (p. 168). The ways a character solves the
problems he has reveal his personality. The readers have to be careful
in seeing the ways since they can be a guidance to know the character
well. For example, when Macon Dead knows that Porter wants to kill
himself, he rushes to get his gun and wants to get his rent before
Porter dies (Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, p. 24).
7. Direct comment
In this method, "the author can describe or comment on a person's
character's personality by himself without using other media. For
example, "He (Mr. Summers) was a round-faced, jovial man and he
ran the coal business, and people were sorry for him, because he had
no children and his wife was a scold" (Shirley Jackson's "The
Lottery").
8. Thoughts
It means that "the author can give us direct knowledge of what a
person is thinking about" (p. 171). The author lets the readers know
what is in the mind of a character. Therefore, the readers can
understand his personality. For example, "Above all was the sense of
hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard
many things in hell. How, then, am I mad?" (Edgar Allan Poe's "The
Tell-Tale Heart").
9. Mannerism
By using this method, "the author can describe a person's
mannerisms, habits or idiosycrasies which may also tell us something
about his character" (p. 173). Someone can be categorized into a
specific personality through the things he does. Thus, a character's
peculiar behavior tells the readers a lot about his personality. For
example, "She was too direct, and to keep up with her he had to pay
careful attention to his language" (Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon,
2.2 Review on the Theory of the Related Study
This part consists of the theories of psychology about death, attitudes, and
children's emotional development.
2.2.1 Death and its Meanings
The way a person views death can be different with others. It is because
every person has a different background and experiences related to death. Those
who grieve for their relatives or friends will consider death as something evil.
Death takes away people around them and makes them really sad. "Therefore,
death in itself is associated with a bad act, a frightening happening, something that
in itself calls for retribution and punishment" (Kubler-Ross, 1996: 2). The thought
of death as something evil has been in people's mind since a long time ago. In her
book On Death and Dying, Kubler-Ross stresses that "when we look back in time
and study old cultures and people, we are impressed that death has always been
distasteful to man and will probably always be" (1996: 2).
However, there are many people who think that death is a natural event
that occurs in our life. It happens as a part of our life. A lot of philosophers view
that death is something that we must face at the end of our life without being
afraid. Socrates says that "death may be better than life, and the true philosopher is
cheerful in facing it". Epicurus thinks that "death is a personal extinction but it
should not be feared". Leonardo da Vinci says that "just as a happy day ends in a
happy sleep, so a happy life ends in a happy death" (Aiken, 1994: 182). In my
opinon, there is no need to be afraid of death because basically it is something
2.2.2 Attitudes
According to Fazio and Roskos-Ewoldsen, as quoted by Baron and Byrne
in their book Social Psychology, attitudes are "associations between attitude
objects (virtually any aspect of the social world) and evaluations of those objects"
(p.112). Another definition stated by Judd et al., as quoted by Baron and Byrne,
attitudes are "lasting evaluations of various aspects of the social world-evaluations
that are stored in memory" (p. 112).
Baron and Byrne say that attitudes are important. It is because of two
reasons. First, "they strongly influence social thought -- the way in which we think
about and process social information" (p. 112). Second, "they influences behavior"
(p. 113). In my opinion, attitudes are the way people judge events that happen in
their life based on their knowledge and experiences of life.
Based on the research results found by researchers, there are factors that
seem to play a role in attitude formation.
1. Social learning, in other words, many of our views are acquired in
situation where we interact with others or merely observe their
behavior. Such social learning involves three basic forms of learning:
classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning, and modeling.
2. Social comparison, it deals with our tendency to compare ourselves
with others in order to determine whether our view of social reality is
or is not correct (Festinger, 1954).
3. Genetic factors, in which we can inherit our attitudes or at least a
tendency to develop certain attitudes about various topics or issues.
formation of attitudes (p.117).
In discussing attitude, most people will misinterpret it with behavior.
Basically, both of the terms are different from each other. According to Oxford
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, there are three definitions of
behavior. They are: “way of behaving; manners (good or bad); treatment shown
towards others” (p. 74). Talking about attitudes will lead us to the discussion about
behavior as well because it has been assumed by researchers that attitudes
influence behavior, however it depends on when and how. “If attitudes influence
behavior, then knowing something about them can help us to predict people’s
behavior in a wide range of contexts” (Baron and Byrne, 1997: 113).
Attitudes affect behavior at least in two different mechanisms which of
these operates depends on whether the individuals have the time and opportunity
to engage in careful thoughts, or reflecting careful thought, and must act quickly,
or impulsive action (p. 128).
The strength of “attitude-to-behavior link” is also determined by many
factors relating to:
1. aspects of the situation, such as the operation of social norms and time
pressure,
2. aspects of attitudes themselves, such as their strength, importance, and
accessibility,
3. aspects of individual, such as self-monitoring (p. 148).
As we know that family is the first environment for children to grow up,
therefore it plays an important role in children’s development. The relationships in
a family also determine their developments. Close relationships that children have
among the members of family help them grow up well. However, the deterioration
in family relationships will cause children to grow up not in a good way.
The deterioration in family relationship basically is caused by “conditions
which, to some extent, are controllable”. As people change, their relationships with
others also change. Here, it is possible for deterioration to occur. It happens to any
family relationships. Hurlock says that there are four relationships that might be
deteriorated as the family members change (p. 435-436). They are:
1. Parent-Child Relationship
Parent-Child relationship will change when the child grows older. He
does not depends on his parents as much as he grows older because he
can take care of himself. This makes parents feels strange if they are
not ready for the changes and it may cause the deterioration in their
relationship.
2. Husband-Wife Relationship
The existence of a baby in husband-wife relationship becomes a great
factor in it. If both husband and wife are able to play parental roles
well, there will be emotional warmth between them which certainly
makes the relationship closer. However, if they fail to play the parental
roles, they will be upset of their own spouse and it can causes a
deterioration in husband-wife relationship.
The deterioration on family relationship will cause a deterioration in
sibling relationship too. The elder sister who used to regard her
younger brother as “an adorable doll” will consider him as “a brat”
later. The younger brother who used to regard his elder sister as “an
idol” will consider her as “a nuisance” later.
4. Relationship with Relatives
As children grow older, their relationships with relatives will change.
Their grandmother and grandfather are not the ones who spoil them
anymore. They become “a very strict disciplinarian”. This, of course,
leads to family deterioration.
Changes in family relationships can lead to a more harmonious
relationship. However, it is very rare. Most changes happens in family relationship
will result deterioration. Once poor relationship establishes, it will tend to persist
and grow worse. This because people will have less communication and
understanding among themselves. The treatment a mother gives to her children
when they are still babies will usually change in quantity rather than in quality. A
rejective parents will be more rejective later on.
Deterioation can be improved by giving time and chance for each family
member to change his attitude. A period of separation will be the best way to
enable each member of family to get a better perspective on the problem (Hurlock,
1964: 436).
2.2.4 Children's Emotional Development
who they are and also their roles in social life for the first time in a family.
Whether they will be good or bad children, the family determines it. Hurlock says
in her book Child Development that the home, the child's first environment, sets
the pattern for his attitudes toward people, things, and life in general" (1964: 433).
Bossard and Boll, as quoted by Hurlock, explain the importance of family for
children's development further.
Home is the place the children come back to, with their experiences. It is the lair to which he retreats to lick his wounds: the stage to which he returns to parade the glory of his achievements: the refuge he finds in which to brood over his ill treatment, real or fancied. Home, in other words, is the place to which one brings the everyday run of social experience, to sift, to evaluate, to appraise, to understand, or to be twisted, to fester, to be magnified, or ignored, as the case may be (1964: 434).
Not only family as a whole, but family members also influence children's
development. Each family member gives the children examples of how they
should live their own lives. "Furthermore, the child identifies with the family
members he loves, imitates their behavior, and learns to adjust to life as they
adjust" (Hurlock, 1964: 433).
Therefore, the wholeness of the family is important for children's
development, especially their emotional development. It allows them to feel the
love and affection from their family at home. If they do not feel the love and
affection completely or, in other words, lack of love and affection, they will suffer
"emotional depriviation". It means the absence of "pleasant emotions" such as love
and affection in children's lives (Hurlock, 1964: 185).
Emotional depriviation will cause damage to many areas of development.
There are six most common areas of development that are likely to be damaged
1. Physical development
The child will suffer a delay in normal physical development. It
includes listlessness, emaciation, quietness, general apathy, loss of
appetite, and psychosomatic illnesses.
2. Motoric development
It is usually delayed and the child is more clumsy and awkward
compared to his age-mates. It is shown in his ways of sitting,
standing, and walking.
3. Speech development
The child develops a speech disorder, for example stuttering.
4. Intellectual development
The child will have a difficulty in concetrating and he will be easily
distracted.
5. Social development
The child tends to be uncooperative and hostile. He also responds
negatively to the advances of others. He shows asocial behavior such
as aggressiveness and disobedience.
6. Personality development
The child's personality will not develop perfectly. He will be
self-bound: he shows little interest in others. He will be selfish and
demanding too.
2.2.5 Fear and Grief
Fear and grief are categorized as common emotional patterns by Hurlock
in her book Child Development.
2.2.5.1 Fear
Although parents protect their baby from fear, it does not guarantee that
the baby will not feel fear later. As he grows up, the environment also expands. It
allows him to have contacts with other people and things around him which can
frighten him. Another factor which can allow him to feel fear is his intellectual
development. As it progresses, he is able to imagine various kinds of objects,
situations, and people that frighten him. This causes his fears are not only more
numerous but also intense (Hurlock, 1964: 191).
Furthermore, she states that most fears are usually learned but they are not
learned in the same ways. She then classifies the fears into four types.
1. The first type of fears emerges because of natural factors, such as loud
and harsh noises.
2. The second type comes up because of imitation, for example, fear of
thunderstorms.
3. The third type is acquired through “conditioning as an aftermath of an
unpleasant experience”, such as fears of doctors.
4. The fourh type exists because of “frightening experiences depicted on
radio or television and in movies, comic books, and fairy tales”.
(Hurlock, 1964: 191)
in different levels of age. In babyhood, fears are usually triggered by loud noises,
animals, dark rooms, high places, sudden displacement, being alone, pain, and
strange persons, places, and objects. In young children, fears come in more various
forms than in babyhood. In older children, fears are mostly because of fanciful,
supernatural, or remote dangers. Their fears also related to self or status; they are
afraid of failing, being ridiculed, and of being ‘different’ (p. 191-192). Hurlock
says that fears are different in every individual. The physiological and
psychological condition and the history of his fear influence the differences (p.
192).
There are many factors responsible for variations in children’s fears
(Hurlock, 1964: 193), namely:
1. Intelligence
A precocious child has fears characteristic of an older group and a
retarded child has fears characteristic of a younger.
2. Sex
At all ages, girls show more fears than boys.
3. Socioeconomic Status
Lower-class children at all ages have more fears than children from
middle- and upper-class background. They usually afraid of violence.
4. Physical Condition
A hungry, tired, or poor health child will respond to fear greater than in
normal condition. He will be frightened of many situations which do
not trigger his fears.
Being with others who are frightened predisposes the child to be
frightened also.
6. Ordinal Position
Firstborns tend to have more fears compared to later-borns because
they are subjected to greater parental overprotective.
7. Personality
Insecure children tend to be frightened more easily than children who
are emotionally secure.
However, fear is important to child as long as it is in normal level
because it is a means of communication. The child’s body language will help him
express his fear to other (p. 193-194).
2.2.5.2 Grief
Grief is the result of losing somebody we love and it causes a psychic
trauma. We usually call this as sorrow or sadness. Grief is the most unpleasant
emotions regardless of its intensity and the age when it occurs (Hurlock, 1964:
201).
According to Hurlock, the effects of grief on personal and social
adjustment are as follows:
1. Grief may lead to feelings of martyrdom if the child interprets his loss
as a punishment.
2. The grief-stricken child may become resentful if he feels that his
parents or others could have prevented the loss.
have prevented the loss himself.
4. The grief-stricken child may withdraw and become self-bound, thus
eliminating opportunities for socialization.
5. Grief may encourage the child to escape from reality by daydreaming
or by contemplating suicide.
6. Grief will militate against achievement if the child is too preoccupied
with his loss to concentrate on what he is doing.
7. Grief may be intensified by anxiety, with all its damaging effects.
2.3 Criticisms
Criticisms on a literary work are needed in order for readers to be able to
understand it better. In their book Literature The Human Experiences, Abcarian
and Klotz state that “literary criticism, on the other hand, attends to the value of a
work. It is good? Bad? Minor? Major? Criticism itself has a history: taste changes
over the years; standards of judgement change; cultural forces contribute to critical
judgement” (1978: 1089). Furthermore, Henkle in his book Reading the Novel says
that we should appreciate a novel by “understanding how authors manipulate and
draw upon our own attitudes and responses in order to create drama and the
meanings of their novel” (1977: 1). Here, the readers are expected to discover the
messages conveyed by authors in their novels so that they can appreciate the
novels more than just a reading material.
The works of Toni Morrison basically have the same central issue that is
how the past influences the life in the present (Guth, 2000: 315).
rupture or the meaning of freedom-whether she uses the the model of communal story-telling to shape her work, reactives a traditional myth or explores the dynamics of memory-the impact of the past remains a central issue, wending its way through theme and form. Clearly, for Morrison, the question : "Who am I?" and "Where are we going?" are inseparable from "Where do we come from?", and the two sides-the search for self-definition and an understanding of what the past is about-interact constantly throughout her work (p. 315).
Furthermore, Guth says that the relation between the past and present life
becomes very important in Morrison’s novels.
Significantly, her purpose is never simply to recapture the texture of a world gone by, to document its details or recreate an idealized portrait for purpose of nostalgia. Rather, the impetus of her work is to explore and dramatize the complex interaction between a present in search of itself and a past that appears sometimes as nurturing cultural foundation, sometimes as a restrictive tradition to be fought off, and sometimes – in Beloved for example as a frightening nightmare that imposes itself between the present and a future of freedom and renewal (2000: 315).
Song of Solomon is one of her novels which tells about Milkman Dead
who tries to search his past and anchestors. He does not know his family’s history
except his father, mother, and sisters. This fact makes him a person who does not
belong to a certain history. His curiosity emerges when he begins to know that
Pilate Dead is his aunt. He wants to know why his father asks him not to go to and
visit Pilate's house without any reasons whereas she is the only aunt he has and she
is his father's sister. This makes him want to search for his family history more by
himself.
According to Birch, Song of Solomon is “a fable underlining how
separation, both physical and spiritual, hinders growth” (1994: 164). All the
characters' present lives are closely related to their past. Who they are and what
mistake they have done in the past. They do their best to recognize their history
because they realize that they are nobody if they do not know their past. Morrison
tries to convey this message through this novel, as written by Birch in her book
Black American Women’s Writing, which is: “When you kill the anchestor you kill
yourself. I want to point out the dangers, to show that nice things don’t always
happen to the totally self-reliant if there is no conscious historical connection, to
say ‘see – this is what happen’ ” (1994: 164).
There are many messages that are conveyed by Morrison in this novel
besides the search of identity. Birch says that the flight done by an insurance
salesman at the beginning of the novel and transformed at the end of the novel
when Milkman believes that he also inherits the ability to fly from his anchestor,
Solomon, has a symbolic meaning. “The flight is a sustaining motif symbolic of
the physical flight of Milkman from Hagar and the spiritual freedom gained from a
discarding of materialism” (Birch, 1994: 165). Another message is the power of
naming. There are many parts in Song of Solomon which tell readers about name.
The way Macon Dead gets his name ‘in perfect thoughtlessness by a drunken
Yankee’ when he registers himself as a freed slaves becomes an interesting
discussion of the novel since it portrays racism. “The power of naming is white,
and the struggle for black identity begins with an insistence upon being named
correctly” (Birch, 1994: 165).
As an author, Morrison is good in seizeing the readers’ attention. Birch
says that
flight in Song; the dissapearing community in Sula; the sense of danger and reprieve at the beginning of Tar Baby; the attemped mutilation of a corpse in Jazz; the haunting of a house in Beloved. These openings are not cosy preambles allowing slow access to the naratives, but thrust the reader immediately into a provocative fictive world (1994: 170).
In Song of Solomon, Morrison uses words as many as possible to describe
the riddle of the pasts of the characters.
Significantly, the vehicle Morrison uses for this exploration is language itself-names,words, fragmented phrases, a song -which, decoded from semantically distortive contexts and interpreted anew within their context of origin, cohere into a fully signifying narrative (Guth, 2000: 319).
Morrison also makes a full use of language in describing her characters
(Birch, 1994: 167-168). She describes Pilate Dead as “a miraculous presence,
assosiated with round and juicy words, ‘berries’, ‘cherries’, ‘eggs’, ‘oranges’, and
‘tomatoes’. In contrast, she describes Macon Dead II as “precise, sharp, and
evocative of an atrophied vitality”:
His hatred of his wife glittered and sparkled in every word he spoke to her. The disappointment he felt in his daughters sifted down on them like ash, dulling their buttery complexions and choking the lilt out of what should have been girlish voices (Morrison, 1977: 16).
Besides the fully use of words in Song of Solomon, the plot itself
describes how Milkman Dead really tries to seek his past. He gathers all the clues
from everything that he knows, including Pilate's song, to understand the family’s
past. Peter Brooks' analysis of the plot, as quoted by Guth, is relevant: insofar as
plot, or the plotting of narrative, may be defined as a "dynamic of … interpretive
ordering" (p. 320). Guth explains that the way Milkman Dead searches for his
family past is like a "detective working back through obscure clues to reconstruct a
hidden sequence of events" (p. 320).
his family past from Pilate's song. In the song, he finds the word sugarman which
actually comes from solomon, the name of his anchestor who flies away home to
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter consists of three parts, namely: subject matter, approaches,
and procedures.
3.1 Subject Matter
The object of this study is taken from one of Toni Morrison's novels
entitled Song of Solomon. She received a National Book Critics Circle Award and
the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters for this novel in 1977, in
which it was first published. Later in 1993, the Swedish Academy awarded her the
1993 Nobel Prize for Literature. The novel contains 337 pages and is divided into
two parts. The version used in this study is published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Song of Solomon is Morrison's only novel with a male protagonist. This is
a novel about "the phantasmagoric saga of a blackman in mystical pursuit of his
past" (TIME, 1993: 54). It tells us about a man who seeks his past through many
clues such as a song and stories about his anchestors and origin. The novel is
divided into two parts, “the first depicting the black sterility of dispossession, the
second the joyous triumph of rediscovery as Milkman finds his anchestry in
Shalimar” (Birch, 1994: 164-165).
3.2 Approach
approaches concerning the study on literature, namely the formalist approach, the
biographical approach, the sociocultural-historical approach, the mythopoeic
approach, and the psychological approach. The approaches are needed in order to
be able to understand literary works better.
In conducting the study on Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, I used one
of the five approaches. The approach applied in this study were the psychological
approach. It helps me understand the children's attitudes to the death of their father
psychologically. There are several theories on psychology about death, attitudes,
and children’s emotional development. The approach helps me analyze and answer
the problems that were formulated in the problem formulation.
3.3 Procedures
The procedure in this study concerns the steps that I took in doing the
analysis so that I was able to obtain the solutions to the problems of this study. I
used a library study; therefore I had done some steps. First, I started to read the
novel more than once to obtain good understanding of the story. Second, I made a
summary and took notes of the points that I would like to discuss. Third, I read
other books to support the answers to the formulated questions.
In conducting this study, I employed a library research, meaning that the
data and information were collected from the library. The source of the data I used
in the research was divided into primary source and secondary source. The primary
source of the data analyzed came from the novel, Song of Solomon. To gain better
understanding of the story, secondary sources should be referred to. Therefore, I
4.4 Sources
The books that I read help me analyze the novel, Song of Solomon, and
answer the questions presented in the problem formulation.
The theories of literature are found in Reading and Writing about
Literature, Understanding Unseen, Aspect of the Novel, The Concise Oxford
Dictionary of Literary Terms, and An Introduction to Fiction, Literature the
Human Experience, Reading the Novel.
The theory on attitude is found in Social Psychology whereas Child
Development gives information on children's emotional development. The two
books give me a clear explanation on how children's emotional development
affects their attitudes.
The definitions of death and all elements related to it are found in On
Death and Dying, and also in Dying, Death, and Bereavement. The Natural
Superiority of Women helps me understand the differences between men and
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
This chapter consists of the analysis of the novel which aims to answer
the formulated problems presented in the first chapter. I try to analyze the
characters of Macon Dead II and Pilate Dead in order to know their responses to
the death of their father which becomes the first problem. To answer the second
problem which is how the different attitudes toward the death of their father affect
themselves, their family, and their children, I compare their responses and the
effects of the different responses for themselves, their family, and their children. I
apply the psychological approach in answering the problem in order to limit the
scope of the study and guide me to focus on the psychological effects caused by
the death of a father on the children.
4.1 The Characterization of the Characters
Macon Dead II and Pilate Dead are the two characters in Tony Morrison's
Song of Solomon who lose their parents at a very young age. Their father died shot
by a white man and their mother died when she delivered Pilate. However, I will
only discuss the effects of losing their father. In this part, I would like to focus in
analysing their characters in order to be able to know their responses to the death
of their father. I think that their characters are shaped by the effects of responding
to the death of their father. Therefore, understanding their characters means
4.1.1 The Character of Macon Dead II
Macon Dead II is the elder brother of Pilate Dead. He has a wife, two
daughters, and a son. He is a rich man, "at twenty five, he was already a colored
man of property" (p. 23). He lives in a big house, has a big Packard, and owns a
store which also becomes his office. Unfortunately, he is not a nice person. He is
the kind of a person who does not get along with others, "he was a difficult man to
approach - a hard man, with a manner so cool it discouraged casual or spontaneous
conversation" (p. 15). In fact, he is not only a man with a hard character, but he is
also a cruel person. He does not tolerate his tenants who are being late in paying
their rents. He does not feel sorry for them even though they cannot pay their rents
because they are very poor.
"Yes, Mrs. Bains. You got something for me?"
"Well, that's what I come to talk to you about. You know Cency left all them babies with me. And my relief check ain't no more'n it take to keep a well-grown yard dog alive - half alive, I should say."
"Your rent is four dollars a month, Mrs. Bains. You two months behind already."
"I do know that, Mr. Dead, sir, but babies can't make it with nothing to put in they stomach."
Their voices were low, polite, without any hint of conflict.
"Can they make it in the street, Mrs. Bains? That's where they gonna be if you don't figure out some way to get me my money."
"No, sir. They can't make it in the street. We need both, I reckon. Same as yours does."
"Then you better rustle it up, Mrs. Bains. You got till" -he swiveled around to consult the calendar on the wall-"till Saturday coming. Saturday, Mrs. Bains. Not Sunday. Not Monday. Saturday" (p. 21).
He even considers money more important than one's life. One day, one of
his tenants, Porter, wants to kill himself. Macon then rushes to get his gun and
wants to see him as soon as he hears the news from Freddie the janitor. He does
he remembers that Porter has not paid his rent yet whereas tommorow is the
collection day.
"You know how to use that thing, Mr. Dead, sir?" "I know how."
"Porter's crazy when he drunk." "I know what he is."
"How you aiming to get him down?"
"I ain't aiming to get him down. I'm aiming to get my money down. He can go on and die up there if he wants to. But if he don't toss me my rent, I'm going to blow him out of that window" (p. 24).
As soon as he gets there, Macon asks Porter to give him his money. There
is nothing else that he cares, not even Porter's condition. He only thinks about the
money.
"Put that thing down and throw my goddam money!" Macon's voice cut through the women's fun. "Float those dollars down here, nigger, and then blow yourself up!" (p. 25).
His cruelty makes people hate him. Mrs. Bains, the tenant, thinks that he
should not run the business. "A nigger in business is a terrible thing to see. A
terrible, terrible thing to see." (p. 22). Another tenant, Porter, even wants to kill
him.
"And you, you baby-dicked baboon"-he tried to point at Macon-" you the worst. You need killin, you really need killin. You know why? Well, I'm gonna tell you why. I know why. Everybody. . ." (p. 26).
The fact that he is a cruel person is not surprising if we look back to
Macon's past. He saw how his father died: shot by a greedy white man who envies
the land he own. This makes Macon have a traumatic memory about his father.
When his son, Milkman Dead, asks him about his grandfather, Macon is forced to
remember the day when his father died.
for his own father. The numbness that had settled on him when he saw the man he loved and admired fall off the fence; something wild ran through him when he watched the body twitching in the dirt. His father had sat for five nights on a split-rail fence cradling a shotgun and in the end died protecting his property (p. 50-51).
Losing his father at a very young age makes Macon lose someone who
could have been the model and example in his life. He can only reminisce about
the figure of his father and everything that he taught him. He remembers the
saying that his father once said to the men who lived in the Montour County.
We live here. On this planet, in this nation, in this country right here. Nowhere else! We got a home in this rock, don't you see! Nobody starving in my home; nobody crying in my home, and if I got a home you got one too! Grab it. Grab this land! Take it, hold it, my brothers, make it, my brothers, shake it, squeeze it, turn it, twist it, beat it, kick it, kiss it whip it, stomp it, dig it, plow it, seed it, reap it, rent it, buy it, sell it, own it, build it, multiply it, and pass it on-can you hear me? Pass it on! (p. 235).
Macon learns from his father's command to "rent it, buy it, sell it, own it"
and becomes a cruel landlord whom people hate. Macon also learns that no one
will have some respect on him unless he is rich. This thought makes him do his
best to earn a lot of money although he has to do it in a cruel way.
He then teaches his son, Milkman, the same thing he believes to be the
right way in order to be able to live a decent life.
"Own things. And let the things you own own other things. Then you'll own yourself and other people too. Starting Monday, I'm going to teach you how." (p. 55).
Therefore, he asks Milkman to work in his office as a rent collector at a
very young age, thirteen years old. Milkman does not even finish his high school
because Macon does not allow him to do so. He thinks that working and making
money are more important in this life compared to going to school which is just a
classification and into a 'nessecary to support family' status" (p. 69) with help of
his friends.
It is also because of the wealth that he posseses that he dares to propose to
Ruth Foster, the daughter of Dr. Foster, "the most important Negro in the city", to
be his wife. He believes Dr. Foster will not accept him if at that time he does not
have the keys in his pocket which represent the houses that he owns.
However, as time goes by, Macon learns that Dr. Foster allows his
daughter to be his wife because he wants to avoid the inappropriate feelings he has
for his daughter. Dr. Foster realizes that he begins to love and treat Ruth not as his
daughter anymore, but as his dead wife. Therefore, he accepts Macon who is rich
to be her husband.
Knowing the fact, Macon hates his wife. He even doubts that Lena and
Corinthians, his daughters, are his. It is because Dr. Foster insists to help Ruth
deliver her babies although Macon does not allow him. Macon thinks that "nothing
could be nastier than a father delivering his own daughter's baby" (p. 71).
Moreover, Ruth is his wife. However, Dr. Foster does it anyway.
Another reason that makes Macon sure that there is something wrong
about the relationship between his wife and her father is what he finds out when
the doctor dies. Macon sees Ruth lay naked in the bed beside his dead father,
kisses him, and her fingers are in his father's mouth.
"In the bed. That's where she was when I opened the door. Laying next to him. Naked as a yard dog, kissing him. Him dead and white and puffy and skinny, and she had her fingers in her mouth" (p. 73).
The hatred Macon has for his wife creates an uncomfortable relationship
anymore. When Ruth asks for his opinion about the centerpiece that she arranges,
Macon says nothing but critizes the dishes she cooks for him.
"Most people overlook things like that. They see it, but they don't see anything beautiful in it. They don't see that nature has made it as perfect as it can be. Look at it from the side. It is pretty, isn't it?" Her husband looked at the driftwood with its lacy beige seaweed, and without moving his head, said,"Your chicken is red at the bone. And there is probably a potato dish that is supposed to have lumps in it. Mashed ain't the dish" (p.12).
The situation in their house is also affected by the feeling that Macon
feels for his wife. It becomes an uncomfortable situation for them. Everytime
Macon enters the house, everybody is afraid of him. He speaks to everyone in the
house in an unpleasant voice. The smile on Ruth's face suddenly dies from her lips
and his daughters’ voices are not heard anymore.
Solid, rumbling, likely to erupt without prior notice, Macon kept each member of his family awkward with fear. His hatred of his wife glittered and sparked in every word he spoke to her. The disappointment he felt in his daughters sifted down on them like ash, dulling the buttery complexions and chocking the lilt out of what should have been girlish voices. Under the frozen heat of his glance they tripped over doorsills and dropped the salt cellar into the yolks of their poached eggs. The way he mangled their grace, wit, and self esteem was the single excitement of their days. Without the tension and drama he ignited, they might not have known what to do with themselves. In his absence his daughters bent their necks over blood-red squares of velvet and waited eagerly for any hint of him, and his wife, Ruth began her days stunned into stillness by her husband's contempt and ended them wholly animated by it (p. 11).
As for Milkman, he receives the same treatment as his mother and sisters
do. His father speaks to him only when he gives him orders and criticisms.
Nothing he does will make his father pleased. Macon asks Milkman to work in his
office as a rent collector when he is thirteen years old. He does not allow him to go
to college, even to finish his high school. He does all things for Milkman without
show it to Macon. Instead of paying attention on what his son does, he tells him to
throw it away.
"Hello, Daddy." "Hello, son, tuck your shirt in." "I found a dead bird, Daddy." "Don't bring that mess in this house. . . ." (p. 28).
The bad character of Macon Dead II shows us the negative responds he
has to the death of his father.
4.1.2 The Character of Pilate Dead
Pilate Dead is the younger sister of Macon Dead II. She does not know
her mother since she died when she delivered Pilate. Therefore, she only knows his
father and brother who love her very much. Unfortunately, she lost her father
tragically when she was in a very young age. She then depends on her brother,
Macon Dead II. However, she loses him too after the death of her father. This
makes her have to rely on herself later.
She does not have a navel ever since she was born. This fact makes her
different from others and this is the reason why they treat her differently.
Everybody treats her as a weird person and it causes her to be excluded from the
society. However, this treatment does not make Pilate sad and hurt. It encourages
her to learn to survive and become an independent person later.
As a woman, I can say that Pilate Dead is a clumsy one. She does not care
about her appearance at all. She lets "her shoelaces undone, a knitted cap pulled
down over her forehead, wears her foolish earring and she is smelly" (p. 20). This
makes Macon Dead ashamed of her. He then tells her not to come and visit his
