Names

In Song of Solomon, there are many characters with very odd names. Though Toni Morrison would not have named her characters Mr. Dead, Guitar, or Milkman without a purpose. I always have a habit of looking for meaning within the names that authors of fiction choose because a name seems to say a lot about a person or at least it says a lot about the image of a person. In Macon Dead's case, his name seems to represent oppression. Macon Dead's name came about when a drunk white man wrote his name down incorrectly, so it gives the idea that Macon's name or identity is determined by his white oppressor. What is very interesting though is that after Macon's true name is revealed to Milkman, Milkman begins to view his family in a whole other way. Just a change in a name seemed to open Milkman's eyes and make him behave kinder than normal especially to those who knew his grandfather. I think the change in the name caused Milkman to see a different side in his grandfather. He thought that his new name was a much more fitting name than the one given him by some random white man of authority.