Betrayal of trust and its profound psychological effects are major themes in Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, occurring throughout the many interactions in the book. They play a role in the relationship between Pilate and Macon, where Macon virtually disowns Pilate after mistakenly assuming that she has stolen the gold that he finds, and between Guitar and Milkman, where Guitar pursues vengeance against Milkman once he thinks Milkman has seized the gold that they intended to share. The three-way interaction between Macon, Dr. Foster, and Ruth is a prime example. In this case, Dr. Foster’s imperfections lead to Macon’s loss of trust in both Dr. Foster and Ruth. Morrison uses this to discuss the emotional effects of perfidy in depth, largely
