Milkman and his Name

In Toni Morrison's The Song of Solomon, we are brought into the life of the main character, Milkman. We learn that Milkman received his name because his mother breastfed him in secret late into his life. A janitor named Freddie witnessed this and called him Milkman, a nickname that carried over into his adult life. However, his birth name was Macon Dead III, and he is referred to by both of these names throughout the course of the novel. The two different names signify the different parts of his personality and represent the symbolic significance of naming in The Song of Solomon. 

In the novel, Milkman gets into a conflict with his father. After his father gets into a dinner table argument with his mother, Milkman hits his father, Macon Dead II. Macon is initially stunned by Milkman's sudden outburst, but he then takes the time to pull him aside and explain his side of the story. Macon tells Milkman that the reason he hates his wife so much is because he thinks that she is a creepy woman who had sexual relations with her father. Milkman quickly believes his father and also starts to have negative thoughts about his mother. When he realizes that his own nickname was a result of his mother breastfeeding him at a later age than socially acceptable, he feels disgusted and uses it as evidence to further convince himself that she is a pervert. At this point in the novel, we see Milkman feel ashamed of his name. He links his name with his complicated family history and it is a reminder of the negative feelings he harbors towards his family. 

However, in the second part of the novel, we start to hear Milkman being referred to by his birth name. When he takes an airplane to Pennsylvania, he finds out that his family is highly regarded in the area. His grandfather, Macon Dead, was a legend, and the people there are delighted to find out that he is related to the original Macon Dead. He is treated as a celebrity, and he is very pleased with the attention he receives. In Pennsylvania, everyone refers to him as Macon, to which he has no complaints. He is proud of his lineage and what it has to represent in Pennsylvania, which is in stark contrast with the earlier chapters of the novel.

I think that the transition between Milkman to Macon in the novel signifies the change in Milkman's character development. When he was being referred to as Milkman, he did not really care about anything in his life and he pitied himself. He was ashamed of his family, and he always found a way to complain about his situation. When the other characters started calling him Macon, he grew to understand the importance of his lineage and he was proud of what he represented. He goes from the childish name of Milkman to the more mature Macon, and the novel ends with Macon performing the ultimate sacrifice, an action that can be interpreted as his full transition to becoming worthy of the Dead family name.