Song Of Solomon Milkman Character Analysis
In the book Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, each character is addressed by a special nickname that resonates with each person's life and their significance to the novel. The main character named Macon III or better known as ,Milkman, received his name from breastfeeding for a long period of time. The significance of being known as milkman extends past the literal meaning behind its creation further setting up his character in a way that allows readers to further understand his role in the book.
Toni Morrison never fully addresses Milkman as Macon III only mentioning that his name is Macon. The name milkman was introduced very early on in the book. The thought of a milkman usually creates the image of a man that delivers milk to everybody. Everybody knows him, but nobody really talks to him. In the book Milkman is quite the opposite due to milkman having to hear and keep all this information that is being given out by everyone he knows. Creating this irony that surrounds his name. He doesn’t necessarily care and wants to stay out of the trouble. Milkman like his name likes to stay out of the way and just do his own thing even though milkman in the book has more issues to deal with than he intends.
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Milkman depends on his mother and sisters to solve his troubles or to dig him out of a situation while his mother and his friend Guitar depend on him for mental support. Being the “Milkman” is shown in his character through his tendencies to be concerned about the events that are taking place around him, but he never takes action to fix it for himself. He stays in his own business and does his own thing instead of actively trying to make everything
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