Milkman's Parents

In Song of Solomon, Milkman is very interested in those who inspire fear in him. In a sense, those he respects as people he also respects for their power, whether it be physical or financial or something else. This is, of course in stark contrast to the others of the community, whose respect for power does not necessarily nor even probably involve a respect of the person. This seems to reflect on Milkman's inability to set his own course in life, in contrast to the way others set him along some path.

When we look at Macon Dead II, mostly what we see is how others feel about him. "He's a kicker," we're told by Guitar. "First time I laid eyes on him, he was kicking us out of our house" (102). In fact, we see this theme repeated throughout the novel, of Macon's power through real estate. He calls Porter's bluff in the attic, he goes around collecting rent and threatening to kick people to the street, all in the name of his property. And while he has every right to do so, he doesn't win any respect from the people who rent from him. As one lady walking out of Sonny's Shop puts it, "A n* in business is a terrible thing to see. A terrible, terrible thing to see" (22). While everybody around him fears him enough to know to take him seriously, nobody respects him as a person. Nobody will explain the name "Milkman" to him, nobody will explain to him the joke about his "hearse," because they are too afraid of the repercussions and don't care much for him anyways. In contrast, Milkman, for as much as he doesn't like his father nor want to follow in his footsteps, does give him a lot of respect. He shows typical "for-your-elders" respect and doesn't mouth off to him or anything, he works for him, and he tries to comprehend Macon's story about his mother. Certainly after the scene with the radiator, when Milkman sees he has less to fear from Macon than he thought, his respect for Macon grows. It has to, really, or else nothing would keep Milkman bound to him and working. Before that scene, it could be argued that he only fears Macon. It isn't true afterwards, however.

Pilate also commands Milkman's respect. Among the community, she is known to be powerful. She is the one they get liquor from, sure, but the scene where the man is trying to get money from Reba shows her crazy strength, as well as its fame. The neighbors come to watch the spectacle: "They knew right away that the man was a newcomer to the city. [...] [H]e would have known not to fool with anything that belonged to Pilate" (94). Apparently, her power and lack of a navel is known all over the city, or at least the Southside. In Milkman, their relationship can best be defined as subversion of his expectations. Before they met, Milkman had expected her to be dirty, poor, unkempt, unintelligent, and everything that his father found disgusting. In contrast, while poor, she was not dirty nor unkempt and was anything but unintelligent. Her first words to him are insults to him, his school, and his teachers. This show of power is what wins Milkman over. He likes to have somebody to tell him what to do and how things are. It gives him the direction he lacks in himself.

When we see Milkman alone, contemplating his life, he recognizes that Guitar is right. He has no drive in life. All he wants to do is find the next party, but he can't keep that up forever. But instead of finding his own way, he lets other people push him where they think he should be. That works for him, for a while. Ultimately, to get away from that is his intention with his year-long trip that he tries to broker from his father. But, even then, he has no clue what he'll do once he can leave, or where he'll go. Besides, to even get there, he has to follow his "assignment" from Macon to steal Pilate's inheritance. He needs direction.