Milkman's Ignorance of His Selfishness

As we progress through Morrison's Song of Solomon, we witness the main character Milkman progress through his life, starting from when he is born during Robert Smith's failed attempt at flight, all the way through to when he is an adult, and finally starts to learn about his family ancestry and where he came from. Milkman's life has been exceptionally easy, as he is the son of the successful, yet stern, Macon Dead, and as a result almost everything he needed has been handed to him; he has never really had to work or strive for anything. During his childhood in Michigan, Milkman was essentially at the center of his family, as each of his family members made different sacrifices for him, and therefore Milkman means something different to each of them. However, because of this relatively easy life he has experienced, Milkman never really recognizes or acknowledges this care on the part of his family members, as he simply expects things to go his way and therefore focuses on the certain times when they don't rather than appreciating his life, causing him to appear as a very selfish character for the majority of the book.

We can observe some instances of the relative ease of Milkman's life in his late adolescent years. His job is practically gifted to him by his father, and his relationship with Hagar, after a few hard, entertaining weeks has become effortless for him too. Rather than appreciate the simplicity of his life, with no hard work involved, Milkman gripes about his job, and especially about how his relationship with Hagar has grown bland. Milkman's selfishness and indifference get to the point where he constantly tries to come up with reasons to end his relationship with Hagar, simply because he isn't enjoying it as much. He states that he will "remind her that we are cousins" and "give her a nice piece of money" (98). Both of these are extremely lackluster reasons, if not excuses, and compensations to reject Hagar after years of making love to her. Milkman is selfish in that he doesn't once take into consideration Hagar's emotions and intentions while conjuring up his excuses to sever his relationship with her. He simply hones in on the feeling that he isn't enjoying the relationship as much as before, and decides to leave Hagar. The actual letter which Milkman writes is even worse in terms of exhibiting his lack of sympathy for anyone else but himself. Before even writing the letter or speaking to Hagar, Milkman "felt as though he had already had the conversation and had settled everything" (98-99). Milkman thinks that the task of ending the relationship will be trivial, and thinks the task over before he has even started. He doesn't care about Hagar's needs, and never considers actually talking to Hagar before leaving her; he just decides that he doesn't want Hagar anymore and calls it finished. Milkman's selfish nature shines, as he signs the letter with love, but more importantly "gratitude," exhibiting the lack of concern he displays for others.

Milkman appears selfish in many scenes throughout the book, as much of his early life is characterized by this trait. What's worse is that Milkman is actually ignorant about his selfish ways. Because he was so spoiled as a child Milkman never really understands the gravity of his demeanor towards his family, particularly Ruth and his sisters, he simply thinks that things will go his way and everyone will behave in a positive manner towards him. For example, when no one in the family responds after Milkman defends Ruth from his father at the dining table, Milkman is confused. The women at the table don't even acknowledge Milkman's actions, let alone respond to them. After punching Macon, Milkman expresses that "his sisters' eyes [...] returned him a look of hatred so fresh, so new it startled him" (68). Milkman doesn't see how selfish he is, but his sisters do, which is why they express such emotions of hatred towards Milkman even after he just fought off their oppressive father. They see his act as simply a shift of power away from their father Macon to now Milkman. Milkman thinks that he has done something good for the family by knocking down his father, but in reality has simply temporarily moved him aside, allowing for himself to take more power in the family and more effectively exercise his selfish will. Even when Lena finally approaches Milkman to confront him about his corrupted, selfish ways, Milkman doesn't seem changed at all. Lena rages at Milkman in an outburst, claiming that Milkman has been "laughing at us all your life. Corinthians. Mama. Me. Using us, ordering us, and judging us" (215). Though caught up in a temper, Lena makes significant points about Milkman's upbringing. Throughout his whole life he has been aided and cared for, but all of this amounts to nothing, as Milkman supposedly laughs at the women in his family, judging them and showing indifference to their efforts, a very selfish mindset to be in. Right at the end of Part I, the angry Lena whispers for Milkman to leave. Milkman, arrogant and selfish as always, decides that "It was good advice [...] Why not take it?" (216). Lena's entire argument culminates nothing as Milkman doesn't adhere to it at all. By smugly expressing that he thought Lena's "advice" to leave was good, he shows that he really doesn't care about anything that she just said, and likely wasn't paying attention to much of it anyway. By saying this, Milkman expresses that he was focused only on the moment when Lena allowed him to leave. He ignores everything else she says, and remains ignorant of his selfish ways.