Milkman the Teenager
Song of Solomon narrates the story of
Milkman’s life since he was born. As the story goes, on Milkman ages to
somewhere in between thirty and forty years old. Yet, his personality does not
really change and he acts like a teenager, despite the fact that he is a grown
man. Everyone around him has matured, yet he still remains the boyish and
dependent character that he was when he was fifteen.
Milkman
lives at home in the same house in which he has lived all of his life. In this
house, he does no work for himself and is still looked after by his mother and
sisters. As Lena says, “You have yet to wash your own under-wear, spread a bed,
wipe the ring from your tub, or move a fleck of your dirt from one place to
another” (215). He also has the same job that he had when he was twelve, which
is working for his father. Milkman did no work to get the job for himself. He also
does not particularly like the job; he does it only because his father wants
him to do it. Milkman even has the same nickname that he had when he was very
young.
Milkman also
has the attitude of a teenager: He is constantly blowing things off and not
taking them seriously. For example, he puts no effort into his Christmas
shopping and just buys his family some random presents. He also breaks up with
Hagar, who he has been dating for about twelve years on and off, by writing her
a letter and giving her some money—a very immature way of breaking up with
someone. Oftentimes when he is talking with Guitar, Milkman cannot take
anything seriously and or even listen to Guitar. When he and Guitar are having
a conversation, Guitar has to tell him “Pay attention when I’m trying to tell
you something” (118). Milkman also tells
Guitar, “You worry too much Guitar” (118). Clearly Milkman cannot even have a
serious conversation like an adult.
Milkman
makes several attempts to become an independent person, but each time he fails.
He tells his dad, “I just want to be on my own. Get a job on my own, live on my
own” (163). However, his dad is still in charge of him, and Macon does not let
him go, so he is stuck right back where he was before. Milkman also tries to do
a something on his own and be independent when he steals the green bag from
Pilate’s house. However, this only leads to his father and Pilate having to
come bail him and Guitar out of jail, which makes it seem like Milkman is a kid
again being saved by his family. It gives Milkman an adolescent dynamic.
At the end
of the book, Milkman finally goes off on his own to find the gold. During this
time there are definitely some significant growths in his character. For example,
as the trip goes on he becomes less focused on the gold and very interested in
his family history. He is also outraged that his grandfather was killed and no
one was blamed which shows that he is starting to actually care about things.
Do you think that this trip will cause Milkman to finally grow up and become an
adult?
I definitely think that part 1 and part 2 show different maturity levels. Instead of being dependent on others, he tries to define himself. I think he eventually realizes that money isn't everything (as represented by his fruitless search for gold) and that he needs to learn how to take care of himself.
ReplyDeleteIn Part 1, Milkman wants to be independent, but fails. He breaks up terribly with Hagar, and also dates many other women in their relationship. He is overall arrogant, always thinking everyone around him has problems and is crazy, and isn't very sympathetic or caring towards anyone in particular except himself.
ReplyDeleteBut when Milkman goes on the "hero's journey", he realizes a lot of new values in his life. He acknowledges his mistakes, and seems to be better person overall. In the end, he reaches his high point where he just surrenders himself to the air, going back to his dream of flying.
I think, having read the rest of the novel at this point, the trip doesn't really help him become more mature and adult-like. He is still selfish, and only really realizes that he needs to be responsible at the very end after Hagar has died. He realizes that he needs to be more of an adult, and he makes all of these discoveries, and yet he still sort of acts like a child. I sort of wrote about this on my blog post and I don't really feel like writing it all out again, but I think Milkman's sort of stuck in time despite maturing a little.
ReplyDeleteI do think it's very funny that he gives Hagar some money in his break-up letter, lol. Like he's not psychologically developed enough to know how to deal with other people's frustrations and disappointments and instead tries to buy off their emotions.
ReplyDeleteI think that part one was definitely just Milkman being childish despite the fact that he was into his 30's later into part one. However, as we talked about in our class, part one represented the normal life in the typical heroes journey. In part two, especially towards the end Milkman really grows a a character and instead of caring about nothing actually starts to care about his family history.
ReplyDelete