In your character group...
1) Everyone share out what you wrote for HW.
2) Read everything from the blog on your character.
3) Divide up to complete the following tasks:
A. Post on the blog everything you can find about the character's name. From the chapter and from everything you can find online in the next 20 min.
B. Post on the blog 1-2 questions, comments, sig. passages about this character. What is worthy of discussion and notetaking? What do you want to find out from your classmates?
C. Fun picture!! (nothing crazy :)
Good luck! Work well! Have fun!
Macon Dead III/Milkman
ReplyDeleteNoa, Jason, JP, Sophie
Things We Noticed:
Unusually withdrawn and jaded
Really wants to fly, maybe has to do when he was born Mr. Smith jumped off the building
Somewhat innocent, not getting what his dad is saying in the car and not understanding why not go to see Pilate
Breastfeeding is more of a joy for Ruth than it is for Milkman.
Obsessed with the past and what’s behind him
“It was becoming a habit- this concentration of things behind him. Almost as though there were no future to be had” (35).
Falls in love with Hagar before he even sees her face
First black child born at “No Mercy” hospital.
Foreshadowing for a “no mercy” life?
Does not get affection from family
Macon Dead Jr. disgusted by his nickname but does not know what it means
None of them want to get out of the car with him when he has to go to the bathroom
“His son to whom he could only speak if his words held some command or criticism” (28)
Does not get a seat in the car and Macon does not let him seat on Ruth’s lap
“This disgust and uneasiness with which he regarded his son affected everything he did in that city” (16). Milkman has to feel guilty about being a burden upon his father.
Name Origins:
He was seen breastfeeding by Freddie and the name spread even though he did not acknowledge it
Named after father and grandfather
Milk is pure, white, but Milkman is black and considered almost dirty but Macon Jr. because he does not like him very much
Name has a “dirty” connotation according to Macon
man in combination with mother’s milk - mother’s boy, but a “man” is grown; there is a contrast within the name
“milking” something is getting the most out of it that you can, and manipulating something that isn’t completely true to reap the most benefits from it possible
“Milking” his mother’s affection while he still can because he knows once this is over he will not get any more affection from his family
Milkman comes to his mother “reluctantly” when it is time to breastfeed. He doesnt want to be dependant upon his mother but he cannot break free from his need to be nurtured. Milkman had “begun to suspect that these afternoons were strange and wrong” (14).
Questions:
Why does he not see any “future to be had” when his situation (at least financially) is much brighter than most other characters’ in the book?
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeletePontius Pilate was the man who was responsible for the authorization of the crucifixion of Jesus. Macon Dead II chooses the name out of the Bible due to its "strong and handsome" letters and the image of a "tree hanging in some princely but protective way over a row of smaller trees (18). Judging from the description of the name as "princely" and the fact that Macon "saw" the word before choosing it, the name might have been chosen due to its big and elaborate letters that are given to words that are important in the Bible.
ReplyDeleteGo further!! Why does Morrison choose this as a name? Why significant that it is a MAN's name? What else is significant about Pilate's birth? How does her name inform or illuminate her character?
DeleteLike most other characters, Hagar is a biblical name. It means "uncertain", and is the name of Sarai's slave whom Sarai gives to Abram to have a child. The character of Hagar is cherished by the African-American community, as she symbolizes strength and single motherhood. Many parallels can be drawn between Hagar's life and the lives of African American slaves and impoverished single mothers. Hagar is able to retain her strength and perseverance despite her difficult life, and is a symbol of hope for the African American female community.
ReplyDeleteWhen Milkman first meets Hagar, "he had already fallen in love with her backside"(43). Milkman immediately objectifies her, and this prompts Pilate to remind Milkman that to be brothers and cousins is the same thing. Pilate forces Hagar to confirm this point to Milkman, which makes us wonder whether Hagar is aware of the "sexual sacrifice" she may be to Milkman, which mirrors her use in the Bible. In the Biblical Song of Solomon, SOlomon compliments his new bride, and addresses her as "my sister, my bride". They are not technically siblings, but what Solomon means is that they are equals. By referencing this story, Pilate reminds Milkman to treat Hagar as an equal rather than a sexual object. Also, this reminds MIlkman that a relationship with Hagar would not be permissable as one with cousins would normally be, as he is her "brother".
Hagar exists in the Bible solely to serve others, and is forced to carry Isaac's child while also being deprived of traditional family relationships. When Reba and Pilate tell Hagar that she had never been hungry, Hagar replies that "some of [her] days were hungry ones"(48). The metaphorical hunger Hagar complains of is her wish for the experiences and love that her current situation does not provide her. Hagar has different needs than Reba and Pilate do, and remains in the family to serve the needs of others rather than her own. In that way, Hagar's life mirrors the life of her Biblical character.
DeleteAlso, the descriptions of Hagar greatly contrast that of Pilate. The symbols of Pilate's moral purity, such as her fingernails, are not mirrored in Hagar. Morrison describes that Hagar's fingers "looked bloodstained", and "her nails were very very long" (49). In addition, Milkman could not look in her eyes, or even at her face, as he did to observe Pilate's emotions because "Hagar's profile was hidden by her hair" (49).
Carla, Shriya, Sara, Amit, Gustavo, Anna, Priya
ReplyDeleteMacon Dead II:
Connotations of the Name:
came from his father whose name had a relation to a confederate soldier
had to say his name to register for Freedmen's Bureau
person registering his name put it in incorrectly (drunk)
Macon is a city in Georgia
kept the name because his wife told him that it was a new start
at the same time this name was forced upon him
all other names are chosen at random
this name is the only one that is kept
even with freedom - this name is still with them
why is it always the 1st son that gets this name?
why not next son? why not name for daughter
this one name reflects on gender roles
originated from slave papers
Macon is derived from Old English/Old French
a variation of Maçon
About Character:
same name for three generations
keeps the tradition of the name for the first born son
even though it is now a family name, is originated from a drunken mistake
seems to only have kept the name because of the “new start” is gave him
contradictory because the names connotation is to have a new start, but it is used over and over and kept the same
shrinks in meaning next to all the biblical names in the family
Passages:
“Solid, rumbling, likely to erupt…. wholly animated by it.” (10-11) Analysis: he instills fear into everyone in his house, even his wife
“For the nourishment of….now lost to him forever.”(17)
“If you pull that trigger’ Shouted Macon ‘you better not miss...up into your throat”(25)
“his daughters boiled dry from years of yearning ; his son to whom he could speak only if his words held some command or criticism...there was no music there, and tonight he just wanted a bit of music -from the person who had been his first caring for.”(28) Analysis: Macon creates a very cold environment in his house, but still seems to crave for the warm and connected atmosphere of his sister’s house, even though he does not regard his sister’s way of life as proper in society
So what are your questions for the class? What would you like/think is worthwhile to discuss?
DeleteMeaning of the Name Ruth
ReplyDelete-The most distinguished person of the Moabitish race is Ruth, who became the wife of Boaz, and ancestress of David. Her name is a contraction ofreuth, which may either be the word for “friend of God.”
-It took the grace of God to befriend a bitter woman as Naomi became, but Ruth was bound to her mother-in-law by the cords of love, and literature has no exhibition of friendship comparable to that dramatic episode on the way to Bethlehem (Ruth 1:16, 17). Not wanting to go back to Moab, as Orpah did, Ruth, cleaving to Naomi said with passion in her voice.
-In the bible, Ruth accompanies a widow who is the mother of her husband who has died and Ruth travels with Naiomi to Bethleham. Naiomi constantly tells her that she does not have to go, but Ruth refuses to let her go to Bethleham on her own
Ruth means lovely friend
Ruth’s last names:
The two last names seem to be opposites because of their meanings behind them.
Foster (caring for)
Dr. Foster= symbolic because doctor’s care for other people’s health
and Dead=not there, when Ruth’s last name changes to “Dead” her independence and relationship with Macon also dies
Ruth’s first husband was wealthy, but when she married Macon, Macon was not wealthy. Only after ruthless business strategies did Macon becomes wealthy.
"Ruth's first husband" ??? NO. Lived with her father until marrying her only husband, Macon Dead II.
DeleteRuth’s Relationships
ReplyDelete“The rose petal scramble got a lot of attention, but the pregnant lady’s moans did not” (5)
Surprising relationship with daughter’s, they care more about rose petals (which make money) than their mother
“His hatred of his wife glittered and sparked in every word he spoke to her”(10)
bad relationship with husband
Macon is happy about criticizing his wife
“Stunned into stillness by her husband’s contempt and ended them wholly animated by it” (11)
Macon often seems disgusted by Ruth now, but his memories reveal that their relationship wasn’t always this way.
symbolism of the elaborate white underwear
What happened between Rose and Macon that caused their relationship to be so tense? What made her “round innocent corset eyes now lost to him forever” (17)?
What’s going on with “the sight of her lips on the dead man’s fingers” (17)? Is the man her father? Did she have an affair?
“Morrison sheds some unnerving light on Ruth’s childhood, however, when she reveals Ruth’s Oedipus complex. Morrison shows this through the “ecstasy...shining in Ruth’s face” when her father kisses her goodnight, a ritual which she clings to even when she is sixteen and has started to bear a “disturbing resemblance” to her mother which makes the doctor deeply uneasy and eager to marry her off (23). This cycle of inappropriate parent-child relationships is repeated with Milkman. She breastfeeds her son even when he is five years old, and is “thrilled with secret power” when she sees “golden thread stream from her very own shuttle” (14). She wants to feel power, thrill, adventure, but she is confined to her heavy, stifling home and marriage, and thus seeks this power through bizarre means. Ruth has a strange relationship with her daughters too, but in a very different way.
"the doctor knew a good deal about him and was more grateful to this tall young man than he ever allowed himself to show" Doctor Foster shows that he did not care about who his daughter marries and only care about getting rid of her from his life.
Ruth is “well dressed” and seems to be more upper class and privileged. She has an upper class lifestyle, and is prominent in the community, probably because of her father, Doctor Foster.
“Consistently acknowledging the table seems significant because it shows that she is searching for validation and confirmation from the mark in which “she knew it was always there” rather than be left alone and disappointed as in her marriage. This is what has become her life and she is finding the way of feeling “alive somewhere” even if it is “outside of herself”. This is why she is “drawn to the window to gaze once again at sea” like a lighthouse keeper because that connects to being hopeful and longing for something new instead of the stale relationship that she currently has. She feels trapped as if she is literally stuck inside of the walls of a prison where she has nothing to live for or feel remotely happy about as she continues through her journey.”
Pilate:
ReplyDeletePontius Pilate is the name of a Roman man who authorized the death of Jesus, but didn’t really want to kill Jesus
-Pilate sounds like “pilot”=flying
-revered leader, Romans thought killing Jesus was actually good
→ good person when closely associated
→ ultimate evil from an outsider’s perspective
→ parallels the situation with Pilate in the book: Milkman likes her, but to Macon, she is a “snake”
Peculiar name-choosing: blindly picking a name out of the Bible. Macon II sees the word “Pilate” in the Bible that seems “strong and handsome,” and thinks that the word “looked like a tree hanging in some princely but protective way over a row of smaller trees” (18).
Pilate is a man’s name
manly figure:
wears men’s shoes, very tall, doesn’t care about her appearance, takes care of her family financially, bootlegs wine, carefree, long arms like tree branches, chews on twigs and pine needles, doesn’t have a bellybutton=inhuman
Why a man’s name?
What is the significance of the blind selection of the name?
Ruth (A Block)
ReplyDeleteGillian // Olivia // Kako // Sam
Ruth is a biblical name, from the book of Ruth, meaning friendship or companion. In her story she refuses to leave her husband Mahlon, and takes on his faith (judaism) as her own. “Intreat me not to leave thee, [or] to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people [shall be] my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, [if ought] but death part thee and me." (Ruth 1:16–17 KJV). Then, when her husband dies she is left alone. When she runs into Boaz, a rich and attractive man, who would be a good husband, she and Naomi try to get him to marry Ruth. They end up having a son who later becomes King David’s grandfather. Since these events occurred in the Book of Ruth, it is likely that a similar scenario will occur in the novel. This is significant because Ruth Foster’s son, Macon Dead II, is the protagonist of the story, and maybe there will be a child with a greater significance.
Ruth, much like the rest of the characters of the novel, is trapped--but she specifically is trapped at home with her marriage to Macon.
What keeps Ruth at home despite her precarious relationship with her husband?
For one, Ruth lives at home in the remnants of her life with her father--her father’s house, her father’s furniture, her father’s bowl on the table--after the replacement of Macon with him. Ruth’s perspective on her life is poignant, especially with the driftwood arrangement she makes for her husband in her father’s bowl. When talking about it with him, Ruth makes special note of its imperfections: “Most people overlook things like that. The see it, but they don’t see anything beautiful in it. They don’t see that nature has already made it as perfect as it can be” (12). Macon responds by pointing out the imperfections of Ruth’s dinner that evening.
How do these imperfections reflect the state of the relationship between Ruth and Macon?
After the rejection of what Ruth thought was so elegant, she “let the seaweed disintegrate, and later, when its veins and stems dropped and curled into brown scabs on the table, she removed the bowl and brushed away the scabs. But the watermark, hidden by the bowl all these years, was exposed” (12). The seaweed symbolizes Ruth’s emotions, especially the deep scars left by Macon’s scathing hatred of her. In response though, Ruth covers the incident up, by hiding the arrangement and brushing away the scabs in the same way that she keeps her emotions hidden from Macon.
“For the little boy it was simply a burden. Pressed in the front seat between his parents, he could see only the winged woman careening off the nose of the car.” (32)
ReplyDeleteDoesn’t like spending time with his family
Flying motif again (“winged woman”)
Is oppressed by his parents
“He was not allowed to sit on his mother’s lap during the drive--not because she wouldn’t have it, but because his father objected to it.” (32)
The whole family (including Milkman) is controlled by what Macon wants
Sitting on her lap like how he got his name--he’s a teenager and still wants to sit on his mother’s lap
When he goes to Pilate’s house: “Milkman was five feet seven then but it was the first time in his life that he remembered being happy.”
He is in love with his “sister” (cousin)
His age is measured in height/size, not age
In many ways, this represents the lives of his whole family
He enjoys being with Pilate’s family-- “surrounded by women who seemed to enjoy him and who laughed out loud….No wonder his father was afraid of them.” (47)
Pilate and Macon are opposites (emotionally not physically)
Macon and Milkman are very similar
“His son’s question had shifted the scenery. He was seeing himself at twelve, standing in Milkman’s shoes and feeling what he himself had felt for his own father.” (51)
NO, not a teenager in the car. At the start of chapter 2, in the car, peeing on his sister, he is only about 5 or 6 or so. Short enough that he can't see out the windows if he doesn't sit on someone's lap.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteMacon Dead II: Jonny, SarAnn, Sarah, David, Timomie
The most talked about passage from the book on the blog was Macon’s advice to Milkman on page 55. In this passage, Macon is explaining the importance of “owning things” to his son. Macon tries to enforce his views on Milkman, saying that he’ll teach him how to “own yourself [Milkman] and other people too.”
Family History:
-Mother died when he was only 17 while giving birth to his younger sister Pilate: “Macon knew otherwise because he was there and had seen the eyes of the midwife as his mother legs collapsed. And heard as well her shouts when the baby, who they had believed was dead also inched its way head first out of a still silent and indifferent cave of flesh (28)”
Family History:
-Lived with his father and sister Pilate in Montour County, Pennsylvania when he was younger. His Father, Macon Dead II was shot dead while sitting on a fence. Macon had to take care of his own sister with no parental help.
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
He tries to ignore or suppress feelings of love, for example when he hears his sister and her daughter and granddaughter singing as he stands outside. Initially, he acts embarrassed and disgusted, but he is ultimately “pulled like a carpet tack under the influence of a magnet” (29) towards Pilate’s home.
Macon
Macon, Georgia - official arsenal of Confederacy during Civil War
- spared during Sherman’s march to the sea (connects to Sherman=cow while Lee=hog?)
The name “Dead” has few positive connotations, yet when Milkman asks “He could have used his real name, couldn’t he?” Macon II replies that Macon I kept it because“Mama liked it” She thought the name was “new” and “would wipe out the past”. Which is very odd. It is also odd how when Milkman asks “What was his real name?” his father seems to avoid the topic and replies with “I don’t remember my mother too well”.