As I posted on my previous blog, the names in Song of Solomon are funny. I learned long ago that the names of the characters in a fiction novel are not chosen randomly. I will attempt to figure out why Morrison chose these to name her characters.
Starting with the Dead family:
Macon Dean Jr. is a very controversial guy, African-American, merciless, violent, brought up in hard circumstances . He has a tragic story, his father was shot and he lived at times of slavery. Morrison tells the story of where the name came from: the man who filled in the register forms for the slaves in 1869 was drunk when his father, Macon Dead I registered, “Well, the Yankee wrote it all down, but in the wrong places. Had him born in Dunfrie, wherever the hell that is, and in the space for his name the fool wrote, ‘Dead’ comma ‘Macon.’” (Morrison 53) This story is absurd, therefore satirical, comical. It is like a joke that your name was turns out wrong because of a drunk register man and you suddenly end up with “Dead” as a last name and he decides to keep the tradition by naming forward his male son Macon Dead Jr. and so on.
Despite this explanation, I believe there is another meaning. The Dead family has issues. The original Macon was a slave whose father died early and he himself died early being shot. So the first Macon is dead, literally and comes from a chain of dead ancestors due to their tone of skin which they are condemned forever, like a last name is. Macon Dead Jr. is not dead yet, but he lives in a depressing mood. Hates his sister and calls her a “snake”, hates his wife for suspecting she had a incestuous relationship with his father in law, scolds his son and feels no proudness to be his father. He might be a wealthy man but lives in torment for making more and more money and owning more and more properties. He might as well just be dead, literally.
Pilate is another member of the dysfunctional Dead family. Her name was picked randomly out of the Bible and caused disagreements between her parents: “No. Not like no riverboat pilot. Like a Christ-killing Pilate. You can’t get much worse than that for a name. And a baby girl at that.” (p.19) This is also absurd, and very funny. I have to confess I smiled while reading this. According to her brother, she does have “Christ-killing Pilate” ‘s characteristics. He compares her to the snake in “the story about a snake” (p. 55) that betrays a man that takes care of her. He says she is someone who can “cut your throat” at any moment.
Ruth Foster is the mom of this generation of the Dead Family. Foster, literally, is kind of the opposite of dead. In the Dictionary it says:
“To bring up; nurture, To promote the growth and development of; cultivate” Morrison matches the definition of the last name with what the character does. “(…) her shoulders hunched under the burden of housework and care of others, brutalized by a bear of a man.” (p. 75) and complements what Macon doesn’t. Her father, Dr. Foster also nurtures others, he was a well-known doctor, a little controversial but what he did is what his name means too.
And then comes Milkman whose name is also funny, it was his nickname because he drank his mother’s milk past the age of breastfeeding. Milkman, like Milk-man, it’s just funny. Taking it deeper, I could say that Milkman is in search for the very basic of his past life, the beginning of the African-American history and linking it to himself. Milk is the basis of life too, the first thing you eat when you are born, for all humans and most animals. There is a connection!
What about Guitar? Wtf! A musical instrument. I can’t find any connection to this white-killer boy with his name. It is absurd too.
And a bunch of other names that most have their meaning and purpose , like Freddie, Hagal, Reba (Rebecca), Corinthians (that one must have a reason), Lena (short for Magdalena), and new minor characters like Hospital Tommy, Feather, among others, whose names also intrigue me.
