page 89[Milkman speaking] "Sweet Hagar. Wonder what her name is."[Guitar speaking] "You just said it.""I mean her last name. Her daddy's name.""Ask Reba." Guitar paid their bar bill and helped Milkman negotiate to the door. The wind had risen and cooled. Guitar flapped his elbows againt the cold."Ask anybody but Reba," said Milkman. "Reba don't know her own last name.""Ask Pilate.""Yeah, I'll ask Pilate. Pilate knows. It's in that dumb-ass box hanging from her ear. Her own name and everybody else's. Bet mine's in there too. I'm gonna ask her what my name is. Say, you know how my old man's daddy got his name?""Uh uh. How?""Cracker gave it to him.""Sho 'nough?""Yep. And he took it. Like a f-ing sheep. Somebody should have shot him.""What for? He was already Dead."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
In this quote, Morrison emphasizes the fact that no one picks their own name. They might not even know the background story to how they got their name. This passage creates the idea that a name is a gift that we take and make the best we can out of it because one day there will be people questioning our name. They will go the the person that knows everything, Pilate in this story, and ask about us and our name. This is where the importance of our name comes in,
This passage shows the importance of names in the novel. They relate to a sense of belonging and a sense of history. Milkman's grandfather couldn't choose his own name, a white man had to give it to him. Milkman doesn't seem to get that back then most black men were either slaves or freedmen that could be killed with a blind eye in court. Morrison brings in some irony when she has Guitar say "he was already Dead." Meaning two things: one, that Milkman's grandfather already had a surname of "Dead" and two, that Milkman's grandfather was already literally dead because he had no lifestyle; someone could take it from him at any given moment.
This passage shows that, how Robey said, the importance of names in the novel is critical. The history of Milkman's family is connected through names. The important part here is that it is understood that Pilate doesn't know Hagar's surname. This passage is also foreshadowing. The box that hangs from Pilate's ear that "holds everyone's names" could be seen interpretively as the family history. The history that is a peculiar mystery to them all, especially Milkman; the mystery of the names that he unravels at the end.
Not many people know the origin of their name. This is a kind of mystery to our past. If you find out where your name came from it could open up to a whole new story to your life. As Meredith said, you will always have people question you name, but if you know where your name came from then you have nothing to fear.
Pride Snow
This quote emphasizes one of the larger themes of the novel, which is that nobody controls the situation they’re born into, although you do control how you come out of it. A last name can make or break you; it’s a sad truth. People can’t help the parents they’re born to, just like they can’t control whether they’re born into a family of millionaires or bank robbers. A part of us, as we search for identity, tries to forget that last name, to leave it behind and take on something new as we grow and thrive in the world of adolescence. Sometimes we’ve been through so much, and changed so much, that we don’t even remember where we came from, or who we are. The bottom line is, you can’t control your last name. You can control what people think when they hear your name. Just as one event can earn you a nickname that everyone knows you by, the things you do and the reputation you land yourself with sticks just as steadfast as a surname. In the story, the names of the characters are literally more important than the qualities those characters possess, showing how much their titles control the people in the novel, and bring them down. They are the name that they wear on their sleeves.
This passage shows that people can't control the circumstances of their birth and who they're born to. Some people are fortunate and born into good families and others not so good. This idea one of the main themes in the book is prevalent throughout the novel. You are born into circumstances and given a name and you have to accept all of this and make the best of your situation you receive.
This passage shows that you can't help who your born to or what kind of lifestyle or circumstance you are born into. Reba and Hagar couldn't help that when they were both born they didn't know who their fathers were and that they have to live in "ugliness, poverty, and dirt." Your actual name is very significant in this novel. The characters names say a lot about the person that they are such as we know how Milkman got his name, that just characterizes how he was when someone saw him. Macon's family has the last name Dead because, I feel, they are in some way already dead.Ruth and Macon hardly even talk to each otherand Ruth seems to walk around as if she has no care to be living any longer.
Post a Comment