Domestic Violence in "Song of Solomon"
page 93
When Milkman got to Pilate's he walked in on a domestic crisis.
Reba's new man friend had asked her for a small loan and she had told him
that she didn't have any money at all . . . Hagar screamed to Pilate,
"Mama! He's hitting her! I saw him! With his fist, Mama!"
[description of Pilate getting a knife deleted]
It didn't occur to Milkman to stop Pilate -- her mouth was not moving and
her earring flashed fire -- but he did follow her, as did Hagar, around
to the back fo the house, where, approaching the man from the back, she
whipped her right arm around his beck and positioned the knife at the
edge of his heart. She waited until the man felt the knife point before
she jabbed it skilfully, about a quarter of an inch through his shirt
into the skin. Still holding his neck, so he couldn't see but he coiuld
feel the blood making his shirt sticky, she talked to him.
Questions:
1) How does Pilate's reaction to the man beating her daughter differ from
Milkman's reaction to his father hitting his mother?
Return to the Song of Solomon page.
Return to the Toni Morrison Homepage.