“He walked there now-strutted is the better word, for he had a high behind and an athlete’s stride-thinking of names. Surely, he thought, he and his sister had some ancestor, some lithe young man with onyx skin legs as straight as cane stalks, who had a name that was real. A name given to him at birth with love and seriousness. A name that was not a joke, nor a disguise, nor a brand name. But who this lithe young man was, and where his cane-stalk legs carried him from or to, could never be known. No. Nor his name. His own parents in some mood of perverseness or resignation, had agreed to abide by a naming done to them by somebody who couldn’t have cared less. Agreed to take and pass on to all their issues this heavy name scrawled in perfect thoughtlessness by a drunken Yankee in the Union Army. A literal slip of the pen handed to his father on a piece of paper and which he handed on to his only son, and his son likewise handed on to his; Macon Dead who begat a second Macon Dead who married Ruth Foster (Dead) and begat Magdalene called Lena dead and First Corinthians Dead and (when he least expected it) another Macon Dead; now known to the part of the world that mattered as Milkman Dead.”
In this passage, Macon Dead is reflecting the meaning behind names. He doesn’t believe that names should be jokes or disguises. Instead, he believes that every name has a deeper meaning behind it. He begins to reflect on how he received his name. He explains this history behind it, and how it has been passed down through multiple generations. He is not overly joyous about having the name “Dead”, but interestingly enough, he continues to pass down the name to his only son, now known as Milkman Dead.
As of right now, Macon Dead doesn’t understand the meaning behind the nickname Milkman. To himself, Macon thinks “Milkman” is a dirty name. Filthy. The interesting part is that Macon Dead did not want to know the details. It didn’t matter to him. He knew that his son would find a way to deal with an unfortunate name (like he had to do himself). Macon Dead is very successful, and made something of his name. He expects his son will do the same.
Questions:
4) Professor Steele mentioned in lecture that names help us define our identity and give us a sense of history. Names truly define us, both in that they are the method with which people describe us, but also they help us to oriente ourselves in the world. The historical aspect of names seems to be important in this book especially within the idea of race relations. Many slaves do not know their real names and are only defined by their master's name, thereby drawing their identity from their role as a slave and their relationship of subservience to their master. They were not defined as a being separate from their role a a slave or their master, further degrading their individuality. Being able to name something yourself transfers power and gives you control over your surroundings. This idea is suggest when Macon Dead Jr. remembers his father's farm and how they named their livestock after political figures. Being able to manipulate the names gave them the social control that they had not achieved anywhere else in their lives.
ReplyDeleteIf names truly are important in this novel then we can assume that the last name "Dead" isn't a coincidence; that the whole family is "dead" in some way. Ruth, for example, is only able to convince herself that she's alive by a waterspot on the table, which implies that she feels almost entirely dead. Milkman himself "lost interest" in life at age four when he found out that flight was only possible for birds and planes. I think it's interesting that Macon views his parents as having passed on the name to him with all of their "issues" and that he's content to do the same for Milkman. In this way I think we can say that the problems of being "dead" inside are being transferred from generation to generation because no one is taking any initiative to truly know themselves or name their children properly.
ReplyDeleteI think that the milkman will stick with him for the next several years, but eventually he will lose it, when he breaks away and makes a life of his own. People won't know the story of him being called milkman and it will eventually leave him. For now though, he will be continually teased as such an unusual event caused him to get his nickname, so people will continually use it against him as long as they can. I think that people think differently of him because they have never heard about this type of event happening. It is such an unusual event, where people will think that something is wrong with not only him, but also with his mother, as she was a major contributor to this.
ReplyDeleteI think the name Macon Dead represents the effort to holding on to reality by negate things in the society. He named himself Dead but if we negate that we will find life, therefore this is an emphasis on the fact that name gives us an identity in life.
ReplyDeleteI think Macon Dead keeps his name because it is carried on from his father. It ties him to his family and I don't think he would want to alter that attachment to his family's history. History and memory are important themes throughout the novel and his father is an important factor to his history.
ReplyDelete