Family Life

In my previous blog post I briefly mentioned gender roles, an issue that related to the way we act within our family. Morrison is clearly commenting on the problems of society (well, as most authors do), further than just about racism. A defined family structure might have its benefits, but as the book shows wanting an ideal lifestyle creates a problem as everyone has his or her own version of it. By showing Macon's frustration about family relationships, Morrison comments on the importance of family 
So far, the author has contrasted the loose organization of Pilate's home with Macon's old-fashioned style. Both versions of family seem rudimentary for twenty-first century standards, but it is important to see how each came to be. 

On one side, Macon tries to have a patriarchal home. He acts, and is, the leader and center of the household. Milkman grows up disliking his father yet bound to him probably because of his strict personality. As a child he wanted his father to explain things to him and communicate with him, but all he got was exclusion. As Milkman grew up, he began to love his father while holding a grudge for him. Eventually, he gets angry enough at him and hits him after Macon hit his mother. The fact that only Milkman stood up to her after years of fighting shows that only men could afford to do that in their family or even in their society. Even though Ruth probably contributed to their wealth and had enough power to shake him up, Macon represents oppressive men that, despite his reasons for being like that, impede women from progressing. Morrison shows his machismo, the narrator says, "Milkman looked at his sisters. He had never been able to really distinguish them (or their roles) from his mother" (pg. 68).  As Macon raised Milkman in a misogynist way, his son came to the point where he barely thought about his mother. Macon Dead's family represents the old-fashioned misogynist family that has been twisted by the situation of African Americans.

Meanwhile, Pilate has a completely different family life. She's a grandmother at a young age because both, her and her daughter, had early pregnancies. Neither of them got married and lived in a way that embarrassed Pilate's brother. Although Macon is rich and his family lives comfortably, Pilate's family seems happier. She sits with her daughter and granddaughter to make their fruit wine, which they won't sell much, and sing in harmony, enjoying the moment even though everything seems to be doing badly. Pilate doesn't get to live in one of the best houses in their town nor is married to one of the richest men, but she is freer and happier than Ruth, her sister-in-law. Morrison suggests that discrimination is worse than poverty.