page 15 "A milkman. That's what you got here, Miss Rufie. A natural milkman if ever I seen one. Look out, womens. Here he come. Huh!"Freddie carried his discovery not only into the homes in Ruth's neighborhood, but to Southside, where he lived and where Macon Dead owned rent houses. So Ruth kept close to home and had no afternoon guests for the better part of two months, to keep from hearing that her son had been rechristened with a name he was never able to shake and that did nothing to improve either one's relationship with his father.
Questions:
1) How did Milkman get his name?
2) How many people know why Milkman is called Milkman?
3) Why doesn't Milkman ever think to ask someone why he is named Milkman?
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Ruth was nursing Milkman when he was far too old to be nursed and Freddie saw this. Freddie called him Milkman from that point on.
Many people knew this story. Freddie was known to tell everything he knew to everyone he knew. All the schoolchildren laughed at Milkman because of his name. Parents knew the story behind his name. They all knew.
Being picked on does not seem to bother Milkman, or at least never enough to ask why they make fun of his name. He never thought there would be a dirty, embarrassing story behind the nickname he has always been called. That name was all he ever knew. For as long as he could remember he was called Milkman and he was accustomed to it.
1. Freddie saw Ruth nursing a boy, not a baby. He took this discovery and started to call the boy Milkman, letting it be known throughout the community.
2. I would say that the whole community knew the story behind Milkman's naming. Freddie would tell parents who would relay it to their children. Milkman would also get picked on at school because of the name, thus showing the reader that the children have found out.
3. He doesn't really seem to care about his title/first name. After all, his last name is Dead so I'm sure he has just sort of put it behind him. After reading the book, I found that Milkman was eager to learn more about the history behind his real first name other than some title he was given.
One day, Ruth was enjoying one of her secret pleasures: nursing Macon Dead, Jr. There isn't a thing wrong with a mother nursing her baby, but it is extremely peculiar when she is nursing a boy; a boy whose legs are long enough to touch the floor. Freddie, upon catching a glimpse of this accidentally, came up with the nickname "Milkman", and it stuck to Macon Dead's son ever since.
Everyone in town knows why Macon Dead, Jr. is called Milkman (thanks to Freddie) except Macon Dead and Milkman himself (until one point later in his life). Macon Dead was angered as to why people called his son so because he thought the name bore dirty implications, yet no one was brave enough to tell him why his son was called Milkman.
He is accustomed to it, as Meredith says. When he was given the nickname, he was old enough to stop breast milk, yet young enough to not be bothered by the name. He didn't know why he was called Milkman, and even when schoolchildren teased him he brushed it off. There is also an underlying significance. His nickname does not bother him, yet later in his life, the mystery of his family's history which is connected through his true last name, sets him on an adventure to unriddle the puzzle. He is then truly intrigued by his real name.
1. Milkman got his name when Ruth was nursing him when he was way too old to be nursed anymore and Freddie saw her through the window and took to calling him Milkman.
2. Pretty much everyone in the town other than Milkman's father knew the story behind his name because Freddie was the unofficial "town crier" and told everyone.
3. He never really seems to be interested in how he got his starnge nickname, after all his sisters have weird names and his last name is Dead.
1) Ruth was nursing her child past the point of appropriateness.Freddie accidentally saw Ruth nursing a grown boy, and he deemed the child Milkman because he was being breastfed.
2) Freddie told absolutely everyone in the community about what he saw. People in Ruth's neighborhood and people of the Southside of town knew the origin of the youngest Dead's peculiar nickname.
3)Milkman was used to his nickname. He had been known as Milkman since he was a little boy. And, as everyone knows, you can't choose your own nickname, and you can't stop people from calling you something. Milkman had no control over his name, so he simply accepted it.
Milkman got the nickname Milkman because Freddie witnessed Ruth nursing Milkman when he was far too old to be nursed. Freddie, being the town gossip, told everyone in town. The only people who didn’t know why Milkman was called Milkman were Milkman and Macon. Macon knew that the name had a dirty connotation from the way that Ruth reacted when people first started calling her son Milkman, but no one either cared or dared to tell Macon where it came from. Milkman doesn’t really care to ask when he’s younger. Lots of people had strange nicknames, so him having one wasn’t a big deal.
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