Thursday, December 8, 2011
Milkman's upbringing
So Milkman's presented as almost fatally unsavvy in this latest chapter; he comes into the town, insults all of the poor country folk with his city-slicker shtick, and gets cut up for his trouble. Sheltered upbringing, we're told. He doesn't know how to handle himself. But I'd like to point out that he kind of hulks out here. It takes courage--maybe not the poetic kind of courage that Morrison would like to see, but still courage--to go toe-to-toe with a guy who has a knife like that. I mean, the man does not miss a beat. He straight launches into the fight, and takes his cuts. Sheltered upbringing and all, a little respect is in order here, to Milkman, and also to Morrison for playing it straight; I don't think I've ever seen this dynamic portrayed in a way at once favorable and unfavorable to our outsider protagonist.
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I agree. When Milkman immediately starts talking smack with these guys in Solomon's, it is quite surprising: he doesn't just "get in" a fight, or passively acquiesce--he's at least as responsible as Saul, and maybe even moreso. This is a side of him we haven't seen before. As you say, he doesn't miss a beat, and he doesn't just keep up, he *escalates* the tension. It's true that the whole fight over nothing but pride with people he's never met is stupid and juvenile (or adolescent) in a lot of ways--it's nothing to get killed over--but there is real courage here. It's the first time he's really taking a risk, and this carries over into his mouth getting him into that whole hunting escapade.
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