The other day in class, someone brought up the fact that Milkman believes everyone around him is crazy. I didn't really make that observation, but after reading a couple more chapters, I realized how true it was. Milkman presents the people in his life as absurd, creepy, immoral, or altogether irrelevant. So I was confused about why I didn't feel the same way about these characters, since Milkman is the protagonist and usually the reader's perspective aligns with the main character. It took me until Lena's epic speech at the end of Part One to realize why I was not entirely on board with Milkman's perspective.
In Milkman's eyes, everyone in his life is crazy. Macon, his father, is crazy because of his efforts to uphold meaningless traditions, such as parading his family around the town in his car at 20mph, to make himself feel powerful. Guitar is crazy because he willingly gets involved with organized crime through The Seven Day. Hagar is crazy because she stalks Milkman and makes attempts on his life because of her desperate love for him. Ruth is crazy because she visits her father's grave in the middle of the night. Pilate is crazy because of her physical abnormality and the abnormal ways she supports herself and her family.
When describing these characters and reasons Milkman thinks they're crazy, he sounds right. And I believed him for a while, as each character was introduced, each one weirder than the last. But if you think everyone around you is crazy, who is the crazy one? I began to realize that there is something Milkman does not see in people, something that humanizes the people in his life that he is blind to. Our discussions in class helped me see. Macon isn't crazy, he's insecure about his status in the family and in comparison to Ruth's legendary father. Guitar isn't crazy, he is trying to search for truth in a racist and unjust society, and although his methods of doing so are immoral, he explains his beliefs quite eloquently. Hagar isn't crazy, she and Milkman had been dating for 14 years and he broke up with her through a thank-you note. Ruth isn't crazy, she has been deprived of love and purpose since the age of 16 and everyone around her doesn't recognize her isolation.
It is Milkman, who's had his life served to him on a silver platter as Lena kindly reminds him, who lacks the ability to understand those around him. He cannot relate to the socio-economic struggles of his friend, the isolation of his mother, the complicated past of his father, the value of commitment of his ex. Instead, Milkman hits Macon and asserts his ability to see and define everyone around him as he wishes. He can call anyone he wants crazy because he is the only sane one. What he doesn't realize is that if you're the only sane one, you're doing something wrong.
If Lena didn't call him out on all of this, Milkman could've gone on riding his high horse forever.
Thank god for Lena.
