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Women in Song of Solomon are obsessive in their love of the men in their lives, relying on these partners as representation of "home" or of a safe place.

We see them brought to madness at the loss of their lovers and husbands, and we see the anguish that comes when they are denied sexual love and sexual expression. While men are associated with flying and fleeing, women are associated with groundedness and earthliness. We see them trapped in their marriages and in their societal niches, crushed by the heavy burden of survival. In this novel, women are those left behind. However, despite its male focus and its exploration of masculinity and Black manhood, the women of Song of Solomon were the ones who made this book truly stand out to me. Milkman is Morrison's first male protagonist. But unlike her first two novels, it's also a family saga, and one that has a man at its centre. Like Morrison's first two novels, The Bluest Eye and Sula, Song of Solomon is, at its core, a coming of age story. You won’t believe how creeped out I was by Ruth’s behaviour in the beginning (before I figured out that piece of the puzzle) … lord, I almost put the book down. My most used annotation whilst reading the book was "WTF", followed closely by "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?" It took me a long time to figure out even the base structure of the story, what the characters stood for, what their motivation and goals were. What was most important to me was that I loved it, that I cherished it, and that I will return to it in future years. This book is so layered, so rich in theme, with so many complex characters, amazing dialogue (that makes the characters feel like real people), complicated and abstruse plot points, it was impossible to catch on to all of it – or even most of it. “You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.” Song of Solomon is HUUUGE in scope. I mean I did understand parts of it, and feel like I "got it" in my heart, but it also completely overwhelmed me, left me confused and unprepared to ever really talk about it. But unlike most of my other favorite books, Song of Solomon proved to be a book a didn't understood. I read this in February (so around 9 months ago) and was left utterly in shock: Unsuspectedly, I had discovered a new favorite book. Not because I want to but because I have to.