The Relationship Between Father and Son in Song of Solomon The book titled Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison, deals with many real life issues, most of which are illustrated by relationships between different family members. An archetypal relationship that Morrison includes in his book is the father:son relationship. While it's obvious that Morrison is talking about this topic, it's not so obvious what he's trying to say about it. So, you might ask, how does the author establish father:son relationships in the Song of Songs, and how do they fit into some sort of archetype? To answer a question like this, it would be helpful to examine the actual father:son relationships throughout the book. An established father:son relationship that is significant to this issue is that between Milkman and Macon. From the beginning, Macon even opposed the birth of Milkman; he forced Ruth to do things to her body that could kill the fetus. With a little help from Pilate, however, Milkman was admitted into the world. Macon, perhaps instigated by the fact of never having had a mother and having seen his father killed, has always appeared to be a cold and ruthless parent even to his other children besides Milkman, but since Macon has heard that his son's nickname was "Milkman", he saw it as a symbol of his disgust for his wife and lost a lot of respect for his son and became even colder towards him. The only time Macon spent time with Milkman, he spent boasting about his great education, warning him to stay away from Pilate, and telling him about Ruth's embarrassing actions. This is how Morrison establishes the relationship between Macon and Milkman in the first part of the book. As Milkman grows, he recognizes the emotional distance between himself and his father. He goes his own way with a few skirmishes here and there and later even manages to hit his father. While Macon and Milkman separate and go their separate ways, Milkman doesn't even think twice and simply continues with his life as if nothing is different. Towards the end of the book Milkman seems to change his view of his father, with some help from the positive memories of the old men of the transition.