Pilate vs. Ruth

It is quite interesting how Toni Morrison portrays two central women in Milkman's life  -- Pilate and Ruth -- in two completely different lights. Ruth, a quite and more reserved character in Song of Solomon confides in very few people in her lifetime. Throughout her life, she was always dependent on someone else: first her father, then Milkman. As a woman who felt misplaced in her own home, she needs this deep-seeded connection in order to act as herself. Ruth struggles to feel the importance that she believes that should earn. She confides in Pilate, the complete opposite of herself, in order to receive support for herself during her pregnancy with Milkman because she would not have the ability to be a strong and independent woman when facing the anger and frustration of her not-so-loving partner, Macon Dead. Pilate's character represents the outgoing qualities that Ruth never had. She is the exact opposite character that Ruth never was: arrogant, independent, confident, and "free". Pilate exudes confidence while Ruth struggles to find it. I believe that Toni Morrison develops this contrast in order to reflect the insecurities of Ruth and point out the carelessness/freedom of a woman once so close to Macon Dead. I believe that Morrison uses Pilate and Ruth to reflect the path of these two women and the different ways they have strayed/ dealt with the man with a superiority complex, Macon Dead. She uses Ruth's character to represent the life of a black woman who struggles to reveal herself to the world because she is suppressed by a husband who has a superiority complex. In contrast, Pilate defies the odds of a woman during the middle twentieth century, as she journeys throughout the United States, trying to find her own soul -- something rarely seen in that day and age. Pilate respect's her brother's wishes to never step foot in his house again, though she does not see this as a setback, it further allows herself to become for engrossed in herself: finding the power of song to heal and finding joy in her daughter and granddaughter. Overall, Morrison uses Ruth and Pilate to represent the different roles of woman in a society that often suppressed them during this time.