Milkman's Time At Home Analysis

For Macon family didn’t' matter to him if money wasn't involve , Pg17 'The one person in the world he hated more than his wife in spite of the fact that she was his sister" refers to the idea that he had no love but hate for his sister Pilate but seem to love the idea that Pilate had gold,also shows how not

When moving away from the south, Macon Dead II tries everything possible to gain urban respectability and success through his possession of property and money. Nevertheless, he begins to lose himself slowly in the process of blending into the white community. During this time, he becomes a perplexed, isolated and sad black man, who seeks the ability to fit into the white society. While trying to own himself and begin to take control of his fate, he becomes enslaved in the materialistic society through his belongings. He gradually forgets his black identity and begins to look down upon the poor blacks of his community.

In Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, an African American man named Macon Dead III, also known as Milkman, struggles to find the truth behind his name and background. Milkman and his broken family live on the Southside of Michigan. His mother, Ruth Foster, suffers from the lack of intimacy with her husband and uses her son as a coping mechanism. His father, Macon Dead Jr., is a materialistic man who does not want to endure the same fate as his father, Macon Dead Sr.(who had been murdered for his land, Lincoln’s Heaven.) Neither of the parents give his two sisters, Magdalena and First Corinthians, attention, leading them to envy Milkman for being the center of their world.

Macon Dead was a prime example of how materialism can manipulate and destroy a person’s lifestyle. Macon got to his status of power by only being concerned about money and how it can help him to become successful. After Macon believed he killed a man, his attention was immediately taken away by the gold he found as “Life, safety, and luxury

Hagar, Pilate, Macon Jr., and Guitar all vie for Milkman’s commitment pulling in him to achieve their goals for him. To Milkman, his life seems to lack an identity in which to base his life’s direction and purpose, “…trying to make up his mind whether to go forward or to turn back. The decision he made would be extremely important, but the way in which he made the decision would be careless, haphazard, and uninformed.” (Morrison, 69-70). Unwilling to commit himself to any one goal, Milkman rejects these options, choosing instead to continue his aimless drifting, cutting himself off from the people who care for him and the African-American community.

Milkman discovers his family name and history, and while on his journey, Milkman finds happiness, understanding, and a sense of identity. While the actual findings of his family is important, Milkman’s discovery of his own identity through his family’s history is the true take-away from the

When Macon reminisces to Milkman of his childhood on the farm “Lincoln’s Heaven” and of his father, the details he includes are rather peculiar. He says that it was a “little bit a place” that “looked big” to him and had a stream that ran into “the heart of a valley”. He vividly described “wild turkey the way Papa cooked it”, what he considered the best part of the farm, saying that you’ve “tasted nothing” before trying it. He completes his description of his past home by offhandedly remarking that they had “fruit trees. Apple, cherry.”

Throughout Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, Milkman Dead’s name serves as a constant reminder of his unhealthy relationship with his mother, Ruth Dead, which in itself is a reflection of her deep-rooted issues with her own personal life that are out of Milkman’s control. The significance of Milkman’s name has multiple layers to it. For example, it is important to recall that his real name is Macon because he makes a significant effort to distance himself from Macon Jr. and prove himself to be different from him. Ruth’s breastfeeding him well past his infancy results in his being stuck with the nickname “Milkman” before he is even old enough to understand the situation.

Milkman’s acknowledgment of racism and change in attitude towards women ultimately highlights his maturity and the development of an unmaterialistic identity through his metaphorical

Milkman’s identity begins taking shape as a child with his family that constantly coddles him

His son marries, and the narrator and his wife age further, and the transition into old age is complete with the death of the narrator’s father-in-law. Between these events we can see large shifts in attitudes and ideas, as well as health and well-being. These factors provide clear character evolution within the

Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon is a novel that is set in the 20th century, Michigan which follows the life of Macon Dead III, who gets the nickname milkman. His sisters are Magdalene, who is called Lena, and First Corinthians. His parents are Ruth and Macon Dead Jr. Unlike most African American families during this time period, the Dead family were financially stable and could afford things that were deemed luxurious. Even though they had money, they still were unhappy with their lives. This shows that you can be living ,but you can also be dead.

This unwinding road of exploration beings with the idea of love. Milkman is portrayed to have a different definition of love, it is one that is young and naive. “When the two had managed to get the basket into the room, the girl stretched her back and turned around, facing them. But Milkman had no need to see her face; he had already fallen in love with her behind. ”(43).

She was the sign of misfortune in the entire novel: deprived of sexual interaction with her husband for twenty years, delivering Milkman as a consequence of a shock from a frightening accident, and withstanding the physical violence of her husband even in front of their children. She was never respected or seriously loved by any male characters in the novel—Milkman was ashamed and careless of her, Macon her Husband hated her, and even her father was somewhat embarrassed by their intimacy which Ruth intended. Ironically, she was the daughter of the great Doctor who has a street named after him and the wife of Macon Dead, who is the richest person in town. This contrast emphasizes the tragedy of the character that despite her superior or seemingly advantageous status quo, she still led a miserable life. Morrison quoted that she started the book as an attempt to shatter some of the common stereotypes the 1960s has brought to African American community, which, as she reckons, has left out an enormous portion of the racial character for over-emphasizing the beauty and strength and thereby

Francheska V. Ronquillo P-101 Sec 8 II- BS ENT Mrs. Jeanette L. Yasol-Naval A Time to Kill “What’s in us that seeks the truth, is it our minds? Or is it our hearts?” - Jake Tyler Brigance Summary: