Becky Ferber
Tonya Russell
Priya Srivastava
The middle aged Macon Dead Jr. is a man of wealth, propriety, and power. He holds power over many different people, but his primary source comes from power over women. This need for male dominance originates from his first experience of being powerless, when Pilate makes a decision that determines the rest of his life. He is dependent on Pilate, "waiting for her to stick her wooly head out of the cave…he [waits] the whole night" (Morrison 171). After hours of feeling weak and helpless to his little sister, Macon is forced to run "as fast as he .. [can] through the woods until he .. [can't] hear the dogs anymore"; clearly, Macon is unwillingly forced to go through terrifying experiences-- experiences which belittle him and leave him feeling powerless (Morrison 171). These experiences forever haunt Macon. After this traumatic moment, Macon never again allows a woman to boss him around and determine his future. He goes to an extreme when he finds out that two women, Pilate and Ruth, tricked him into conceiving, and "told [Ruth] to get rid of the baby" ( Morisson 125). He is not willing to let a woman control his future, even if that means killing his unborn baby. Furthermore, Macon will not let his family associate with the woman who "had as much to do with his future as she had his past," for she is the ultimate threat to all that he has worked to attain since their parting (Morrison 36).
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