Milkman's Song Of Solomon

The name of the main character of Song of Solomon, Macon Dead III (Milkman), is a hidden reservoir of significance, both to his function as a character and to the plot as a whole. His first name, Milkman, represents not only his physical upbringing and extended breastfeeding by Ruth, but it also represents his tendency through the majority of his life to suck energy, time, and effort from the people around him, specifically the women in his life that he tends to use without thought or considerateness. His lack of compassion and reciprocity towards the people in his life that offer him so much, such as Hagar or Ruth, who both offer him their complete and total love, makes him the equivalent of a baby continuously suckling; he is nothing but
a drain. It isn’t until he finds out about his family’s history that he is finally able to shake off the mantle of “Milkman” and move towards the fabled “Sugarman” that Pilate sings about at the beginning of the novel. His last name, Dead, references not only Milkman’s condition, but the condition of all those around him that simply walk through life. Macon Jr, Ruth, and even Guitar to some extent all are so trapped within the confines of their life that they are not truly living; all that come in contact with the Dead family are, inevitably, dead. They live strictly in the lives that they are assigned; they do not strive to move past their own personal flaws or try to live beyond the limits they live in. Ruth does not try and move past the boundaries set in place by Macon Jr; Macon Jr does not attempt to conquer his wealth and his father’s ghost; Guitar seeks only revenge against his situation and not to strive beyond it for change. Milkman is the only Dead that isn’t truly dead; while he is at the beginning of the novel, his conquering of his flaws, moving past his situation, and learning of his family history bring him into the arms of not only adulthood, but into the realm of the living.