The chronology of this novel can be difficult to follow at times. It begins with the day the protagonist is born. The opening scene is a man preparing to jump to his death from the local hostpital, Mercy. Passing by is Ruth Foster Dead and her two daughters First Corinthians and Magdalene call Lena. A crowd gathers and as the man throws himself to his death, Ruth Foster Dead goes into labor basically on the steps of Mercy Hospital. Her circumstances lead to her son, Macon Dead, being the first black baby born in the hospital. Also during this opening scene, we are given some history of the town and Ruth Foster Dead. She is the daughter of Dr. Foster, the first black doctor in town which lead to the street he lived on being called Doctor street by the black residents. The white residents were not overly fond of this phemenon, so the city posted many signs declaring that the street name was Mains Avenue and not doctor street which conveniently gave the black population justification to start calling it Not Doctor Street. Already, the major themes of the novel emerge. We are exposed to the current racial culture of the town, we are given some of the history of the family of the protagonist, the issue of nomenclature is raised and we are also introduced to the protagonist's best friend and his aunt although we are unaware of it at the time.
It takes some time to sort out the details of the family and their situation as the boy grows up, so the reader is never quite sure what to believe. Macon Dead's father, also called Macon Dead is probably the wealthiest black man in town. His business is rental properties and he owns a good portion of the poor black section of town. His ambition is what drew him to Ruth Foster. He came to town and worked his way up until he felt secure enough to approach Dr. Foster about his daughter. Their relationship was based on status rather than love. Ruth herself is a very bizarre character and her unusual practice of breast feeding her son until he was much older than was necessary lead to the younger Macon Dead acquiring the nickname Milkman. From that foundation, the story is fleshed out both into the future as we follow Milkman into his late thirties as well as the past as we learn the more immediate history of the family but also where the family originated from. The past is a major theme in this novel. Knowing where you came from and who your people are is central to your all around development.
The entire Dead family, including Milkman's two sisters as well as Macon's sister, Pilate, and her family, suffer because of their lack of history. Macon and Pilate grew up in Danville. Their father was a slave in the South and came North after being freed. He was given his name when he registered as a freeman. The "yankee" who registered him was drunk and filled out the information in the wrong spots. The original Macon Dead was illerate and did not catch the mistakes until it was too late. He worked his way from nothing to having "the best farm in the county" becoming an inspiration to all the other blacks in the area. Par for the course in the early 1900s, late 1800s, a local wealthy white family decided they wanted Macon Dead's land and killed him for it with out suffering any judicial repercussions. The younger Macon and Pilate were forced to flee for their lives and eventually split up over an incident that caused bad blood between them for the rest of the novel. The original Macon's emphasis on things and his singular goal of becoming a land owner inspired in his son an obsession with ownership. Possession and ownership is equated with power in the younger Macon's eyes and he becomes single minded in his pursuit of it. At one point Milkman's best friend, Guitar, says that "he has the heart of a white man." It is another major theme of the novel. Ownership becomes a family value for the Dead men at the expense of relationships and their own happiness. Morrison clearly looks down upon middle class values of security and the pursuit of wealth in favor of what is characterized as lower class values of family and community.
There is an incredible amount going on in this novel and every single scene is important and plays a role in shaping the culture and course of the action. No word is wasted in crafting a superb narrative. Even the more ancillary characters have a lot of depth and development. Relationships between men and women and races are explored in great detail. Ultimately the ending may be somewhat unsatisfying but how can Morrison suggest a resolution of some of her themes when they are far from resolved in our society today.
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