p.124-From “…because the fact is that I am a small woman.” to “I am not a strange woman. I am a small one.”

Like most of the women in the 1930s, Ruth was subordinate to her father and later to her husband. Since Ruth was the daughter of the only black doctor in town, as a child she received much more than the other black girls. She was wearing beautiful, expensive clothes, living in a big, luxurious house, and eating only well-chosen food. That is why, the other black children from the town treated her as different. She did not make any friends, and no one was worried about her except her father: “I had no friends, only schoolmates who wanted to touch my dresses and my white silk stockings” (Song of Solomon, 124). Although Ruth was not living happily, she thought she was happy because she had her father to care for her: “But I didn’t think I’d ever need a friend because I had him” (Song of Solomon, 124). In the huge mansion, Ruth was feeling as though she was pressed “into a small package”. Throughout her childhood, Ruth has always acted in a way that pleases her father while he has controlled her as much as possible. He treated her like his possession.

Ruth was her father’s doll, and later she becomes her husband’s. Macon Jr. chooses to marry her only because of her class position, and then stops looking after her. He is too obsessed to earn money and does not have time for his wife. As a result, Ruth feels abandoned and sad. She defines herself as “a small woman”. This phrase shows that Ruth realizes that she does not have the strong will and character that Pilate has. Ruth is too dependent on Macon and was too dependent on her father.

Ruth serves as a symbol for women of the time, who were taught to be servile and fully dependent on their men. Ruth’s main duties are centered only around her home. Nowhere in the text has the author suggested that there is anything wrong with these duties, but Toni Morrison points out the dangers of living a life defined by society in a way that ignores one’s identity. Song of Solomon reveals Morrison’s concerns about the treatement and position of women in society.