Rose Petals

The rose petals in Chapter nine of Song of Solomon symbolize the superficiality behind the Dead family. The roses are made by Corinthians and Lena who are viewed as emotionless and their sole purpose in life is to make roses. Corinthians even excepts the fact that this fake outer shell has consumed her, “[Corinthians] woke up one day to find herself a forty-two-year-old maker of rose petals, she suffered a severe depression” (Morrison 189). Corinthians tries to escape the “smothering death of dry-roses” (Morrison 199) by falling for Porter, because he is real to her and she has never done something that her father wouldn’t approve of. She is breaking free from these chains the rose petals put on her and turning her life around. Both her and Lena are suck in this “hallucination” that the roses put on them and they are keeping the sisters from acting “real”. 

These fake roses are so toxic to them because instead of breaking free of the routine they go back to it to escape facing the fact that their family is not healthy and that they must find something more to do with their lives. This is similar to Ruth’s obsession with her watermark; it keeps her stuck in the past so she can avoid the future. Contrary to her sister, Lena “seemed resigned to her life” (Morrison 189). However, the reader knows that is not the truth because at the end of the chapter Lena comes to realize that she is done with being fake and acting like a helpless woman. She emphasizes to Milkman, “‘I don’t make roses anymore, and you have pissed your last in this house’” (Morrison 216). This is her way of saying she is now in charge of herself and she is not letting the mistreatment by her brother and father get by again without saying something. By not making the roses anymore, it shows her turning point; she is done faking this attitude and is now becoming a new, stronger woman. In this chapter red has a negative connotation instead of a warm connotation. It represents the danger of their future by acting superficial and not making their lives happen for themselves.