The fathers may soar,
And the children may know their names
Addressing the first part of this epigraph, The fathers may soar, apart from Macon I being blasted five feet of the fence defending his property, we see this in Chapter 8. Milkman spots a white peacock on the roof of the Neslon Buick headquarters. At first, Milkman is talking to Guitar about robbing Pilate, but this catches his attention instead. " "Look—she's flying down." Milkman felt again his unrestrained joy at anything that could fly. "Some jive flying, but look at her strut." (Morrison 178).
I was a bit confused as to why a male peacock was flying, but Milkman described it as "jive flying", and jive, when used as an adjective, means deceitful or worthless. I'm guessing the peacock did some sort of glide down to the ground.
Then Milkman asks a question about the white peacock that is asking a question about himself and his father:
"How come it can't fly no better than a chicken?" Milkman asked.
"Too much tail. All that jewelry weighs it down. Like vanity. Can't nobody fly with all that shit. Wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down."
Guitar's answer brings to the surface one of the biggest problems about the Dead household. Macon II, Milkman's father, is so concerned about his money and property that he is rendered immobile, and to an extent makes Milkman immobile as well. Macon doesn't want Milkman to leave him, and wants him to stay and help with the real estate business.
The second part of the epigraph, And the children may know their names, is addressed in Chapter 9 by First Corinthians. After she snapped at Porter, and while she is desperately knocking on Porter's car window, she realizes who she is in terms of names:
"She was First Corinthians Dead, daughter of a wealthy property owner and the elegant Ruth Foster, granddaughter of the magnificent and worshipped Dr. Foster, who had been the second man in the city to have a two-horse carriage, and a woman who had turned heads on every deck of the Queen Mary and had Frenchmen salivating all over Paris." (Morrison 197).
As far as titles go, First Corinthians Dead and Macon Dead III have great opportunities open for them. However, by the way they're raised by an oppressive father and weak mother, they can't really use these names to any great effect.
I skimmed right over the peacock passage when I read it, but you make an interesting point with it here. Guitars words about vanity weighing you down is appropriate to chapter 9. We see First Corinthians give up some of her vanity, and she is able to kind of fly.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that Milkman goes on a quest for a heavy bag of gold after that quote about weighing yourself down. But on the way he gets really excited when someone refers to "his people" and he finds out more about his family from Circe (including the name of his grandmother), so he's also finding out more about his name.
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