Milkman and Antoinette: Social Isolation
As
the semester is coming to a close, I thought I’d look back on the books we’ve
read this year. I was attempting to find commonalities between the books, but
while there are some similarities between a few, it’s difficult to find
something that applies across the span of all of the books we’ve read. So I
decided to focus on Song of Solomon.
Something
about Milkman’s situation struck me as familiar and I realized that I could see
a lot of similarities between him and Antoinette, especially pertaining to
their social status. Neither of them really fit into their surroundings.
Antoinette, born on the island with a French mother, doesn’t quite fit in with
the Creole community, however since she is still white, she doesn’t fit in with
the freed slaves, either. Milkman is in a somewhat similar situation. He
clearly doesn’t fit in with the whites because despite his wealth, he is still black
and would not fit into white society of the time. However, his family’s wealth
puts him apart from the rest of the black community in his town.
Furthering
their social isolation is the hatred of their fathers by the oppressed
communities in their area. Antoinette’s father was abusive and a despised slave
owner, and the ex-slaves resent her and her wealth for that. Macon is an
unforgiving landlord who is also disliked by the black community in their town,
evidenced by the times Milkman is kicked out of places around town with Guitar
because he’s a Dead.
As
similar as their social situations are, they have their differences. For
example, Milkman spends a lot of time with Macon, whether he likes it or not,
and actually becomes very similar to his father, following in his footsteps.
Antoinette, on the other hand, barely knew her father as he died when she was
still young, and despite Mr. Mason coming in and out of her life and the arrival
of Rochester later, she never really becomes the despised figure her father
was.
I hadn't quite realized how similar these novels are until you pointed it out! I agree with all the comparisons above, but I would say that your last difference could be a similarity in that Antoinette follows in her mother's footsteps despite her attempts not to. The two novels also have a similarity in Christophine and Pilate as being mysterious women who have very important effects on the narrators.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good point! I think there are similarities between Ruth and Annette as well- both are suppressed and eventually abused by their husbands, both seem to have a harder time expressing love towards their children, both are driven mad by the abuse, although Ruth to a much lesser extent. What's interesting too is that what drives Ruth slightly mad is also what hurts Antoinette: the lack of physical affection from their spouses. I wonder what other parallels exist between the two books.
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting to think about. I never really thought about the similarities between Milkman and Antoinette. It is interesting how socia status can affect a character.
ReplyDeleteMilkman and Antoinette also have some more differences, though. Milkman never experiences a major hit in his life that harms him: he is mostly unchanged for much of the book. Also, he is not hated by his parents and doesn't feel isolated from their life, more in keeping with the lives of others. He remains still very much separated from the populace, and doesn't really care all that much, except in certain places.
ReplyDeleteVery true. Both Antoinette and MIlkman's social statuses separate them from their surrounding, but Milkman actively goes to find his people while Antoinette seems to have been placed into various settings, and adapted as necessary.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting comparison to make, and a very fair one in my opinion. I'd also point out that both Milkman and Antoinette are named after their parents, and that they both become like their parents at one point in their stories or another. For Milkman, it's in the beginning, a good portion of his story, where he is basically Macon Dead III, but for Antoinette, she becomes like her mother in her later years of life, becoming "mad" as her mother once was.
ReplyDeleteI really like this comparison that you made. It is interesting that two people who live in such different places can be so similar. The comparison to how neither Milkman or Antoinette fir in with their world I think was really good. Not fitting in is one of their main characteristics and the fact that they have the same ones is really cool!
ReplyDeleteThis is a pretty fascinating comparison of two characters who seem radically different. While they're actually quite similar in the ways you point out, what's especially interesting are the ways in which they react to their situation differently, and how we interpret their reaction. Milkman is kind of a jerk to everyone throughout the novel, and is oblivious to why people don't like him, while Antoinette seems to understand why people dislike her quite clearly, and also is not nearly as unpleasant as Milkman is through most of the novel.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a really great observation as both Milkman and Antoinette's characters are mostly defined by the racial struggles they face. In a sense, they are like two sides of a coin as both are wealthy, different from the people around them, with the differences between them identifying them as heads and tails (holding a similar constitution but different design).
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting point, they are way more similar than I realized, it's interesting to think about what causes there different outcomes, milkman seems frozen partially by his choice as he is still a kid but antoinette is way less in control of her situation probably because she is a women
ReplyDeleteThere is also the theme of travelling that is common to both novels, but travelling affects Milkman and Antoinette in polar opposite ways. Both Milkman and Antoinette have never left their respective hometowns, but their travels that lead them to leave their hometowns affect them differently. Milkman's travels redefine him as a "new man" after learning about his family and his history. He feels whole and complete, and this change is obviously towards the better. Antoinette on the other hand slowly isn't able to find a home outside Coulibri and her travels ultimately lead her to go insane.
ReplyDelete