Song of Solomon characters

Also known as Milkman

Appears from the start

The son of Macon and Ruth Dead, born in Michigan after a man's fatal attempt to fly from the roof of a hospital. Growing up in a prosperous but divided Black family, he becomes self-absorbed and restless, conscious that his unusual nickname and a slight physical asymmetry mark him apart.

Appears from the start

Milkman's father, a wealthy landlord whose drive to own property grew from childhood loss and insecurity. Severe with his tenants and family, he despises his sister Pilate and wants his son to inherit his hunger for material independence.

Appears from the start

Milkman's mother, the refined daughter of the late Dr. Foster. Her marriage is loveless, and she preserves an intense attachment to memories of her father while trying to protect the son whose birth she fought to secure.

Appears from the start

Macon's estranged younger sister, a bootlegger who lives without a navel and carries her name in a brass box hanging from one ear. Independent, generous, and rooted in inherited knowledge, she becomes a source of freedom and family history for Milkman.

Appears from the start

Milkman's closest friend from boyhood, intelligent and politically alert. His father was killed in racist violence, and his anger at the vulnerability of Black life shapes a worldview very different from Milkman's sheltered detachment.

Appears from the start

Pilate's granddaughter and Milkman's cousin. She and Milkman form an intimate attachment when they are young, but they want very different things from the relationship as they grow older.

Appears from the start

Pilate's daughter and Hagar's mother, a warm and impulsive woman with an uncanny ability to win prizes. She shares Pilate's unconventional household and deep devotion to Hagar.

Appears from the start

Milkman's older sister, educated and dutiful, whose abilities have been confined by her father's expectations. She secretly begins a relationship that gives her a life beyond the Dead household.

Also known as Lena

Appears from the start

Milkman's other older sister, named Magdalene but usually called Lena. Quietly attentive to family duties, she sees clearly how the household has been organized around her brother's needs.

First appears in chapter 10

An aged midwife living in the ruins of the Pennsylvania mansion where Macon and Pilate once worked. Her memories preserve the concealed history of the Dead family and direct Milkman farther south.

First appears in chapter 12

An elderly Virginia woman whom local records identify as a possible relative of Milkman's paternal grandmother. Reserved during his first visit, she represents a living connection to the family history he is trying to reconstruct.

Also known as Shalimar

First appears in chapter 12

A celebrated ancestor remembered in Virginia as a man who escaped slavery by taking flight, leaving behind a wife and children. His story survives in place-names, family accounts, and a children's song.