Active Blog for Chapters 1-2

Plot Summary: Chapter one opens up the story immediately with a scene of magical realism. On Wednesday, February 18, 1931, an insurance agent named Robert Smith jumps off of Mercy Hospital with large blue silk wings attached to his body and plummets to his death. Witnessing his passionate leap, a pregnant African American woman is told that her baby will be born the next morning by her sister-in-law, Pilate (wise-old woman archetype). There is a sense of profound fluidity of coincidences because Mr. Smith's insurance office is located on Not Doctors Street, known for the only African American doctor, Dr. Foster, who once lived there. The hospital that Mr. Smith jumps off of is known as No Mercy Hospital because until Ruth Foster Dead was admitted to give birth, they did not allow in African American patients. Consequently, Ruth is Dr. Foster's daughter. The next day, as prophesied by the old woman, Ruth gives birth to a son who is named Macon Dead III. At the age of four, little Macon discovers that, like Mr. Smith, man cannot fly and thus becomes explicitly depressed and dull. It is revealed that Dead house is more of a prison than an actual house because Macon Jr. is an extremely violent father and husband. The only two things that get Ruth through the day are to polish an irremovable water stain on their dinner table, and to breast feed Macon, long after his infancy. A nosy neighbor dubs him with a new name that sticks despite his father refusing to acknowledge it, and that name is "Milkman." The second chapter takes place in the same place, however, it is four through eight years later, the majority of the time being when Milkman is twelve years old. It is then when he and his best friend, Guitar, who is five years older, decide to go see his aunt Pilate who he is forbidden to see. There is a strong brother-sister archetype with Macon Jr. and Pilate. At Pilate's house, they meet her daughter, Reba, and her daughter, Hagar, whom Milkman instantly falls in love with. Freddie-the-nosy-neighbor tattles on Milkman and gets him in trouble with his dad-which surprisingly leads to a beginning of sorts with Macon and his son (father-son archetype). His father ends up telling him his life's story and motives, which gives Milkman a peek into his father's life he'd never had before.

Magical realism isn't as easily identifiable here: the only thing that sticks out is that Mr. Smith has wings--except that they're fake. Another thing is that Pilate says that when she and Macon Jr. were lost in a forest near their farm when they saw the ghost of their father, Macon Dead I. Pilate's daughter Reba is evidence of magical realism because she wins every contest she ever entered.

A theme that seems to be reoccurring is one of identity. Milkman loses part of his when he discovers he can't fly, and starts to find it when he learns his history from his classmates, neighbors, relatives, and his father. Milkman also seems to get most of his affirmation from his friend Guitar (only likes his name when Guitar likes it). This could hint to a theme of having to self discover who you are.

Ch 1 Quote from page 5: "In any case, whether or not the little insurance agent's conviction that he could fly contributed to the place of her delivery, it certainly contributed to its time." Because of man who had jumped off the roof of a community hospital, they admitted their first ever African-American into the wards to give birth instead of having her baby on the steps. Does this hint to Mr. Smith being a catalyst because it brought on the timing of the woman giving birth? I think perhaps it might.

Quote from ch1, page 9: "To have to live without that sing gift saddened him and left his imagination so bereft that he appeared dull even to the women who did not hate his mother." It seems as though flying is really part of who Milkman is as a person if it had this effect on him, to leave him without imagination and a purpose in life.

Quote from ch 2, page 35: "It was becoming a habit—this concentration on things behind him. Almost as though there were no future to be had." Another indication that his past indicates who he is...maybe like, through his ancestors.

Quote from ch 2, page 43: "...Milkman had no need to see her face; he had already fallen in love with her behind." This quote may show that he is fickle as a character, or maybe this is true love...

Macon "Milkman" Dead III- He is the main protagonist of the story who is struggling with his identity.

Macon Dead II- He is the father of Milkman. He is a very motivated person who's main purpose in life seems to be acquiring money.

Ruth Foster Dead- She is the wife of Macon II and the mother of Milkman. She breast feeds Milkman until his feet nearly touches the floor while holding him, earning the boy his fairly appropriate nickname.

Pilate Dead- She is the sister to Macon Jr. and is a bootlegger that the town wholly disapproves of. She's off limits from the Dead family because her brother refuses to make amends. Name comes from the Bible, which she cut out of the Holy book, stuck in a brass box, and made into an earring. She has no husband.

Rebecca "Reba" Dead- She is the daughter of Pilate and mother of Hagar. She is extremely lucky because she wins every contest she enters. She is very fickle because she usually gives away her earnings.

Hagar Dead- The daughter of Reba is sixteen in the second chapter and forms a bond (unknowingly to her) with Milkman.

Guitar Bains- He is introduced in chapter one to be a very intelligent young man who knows how to phonetically spell "admissions." He and his family seem to have migrated from the south to the north because he is just learning how to speak without as much reserve to white people. Later in chapter two, he is a young man who seems to still have that intelligence.