Milkman is clearly inexperienced in the way of dealing with nature. He wears a suit, knowing that he'll be trekking to find a cave in the wilderness, and doesn't bother to bring more comfortable clothes. He isn't used to dealing with a physical setting more rural than that of his hometown because it's never mentioned that he's ever left his hometown! Even menial tasks are harder for him in the forest. He doesn't just reach down to grab a lighter out of his pocket, he "fumbled for it, almost faint from the money smell." (252) The possibility of his fortune being within arm's reach is causing some of this, but he's just so out of his element that the nature setting is exacerbating his troubles. Yet, it is nice to see a humanization of Milkman after the chapter that painted him in a somewhat insensitive light.
Milkman doesn't seem to have the capability of appreciating the nature he gets to see that he doesn't see in the city. When he is in the bus to Danville, although "his father had raved about the beauty of this part of the country"(226), Milkman really was only able to see it as being "merely green"(226). Already in the very beginning of his journey to the south, we see Milkman's lack of interest for nature. He was easily bored and "nature's repetition overtook him"(226). -Chloe Fishman
Milkman sees nature more as an obstacle to his eventual happiness and his living a happy life than it being a good thing. He is stuck in a city mentality in a place pretty far removed from being a city. One clear example of this obstacle, opposite of civilization view is when Milkman gets out of the brush after his unsuccessful attempt at finding the gold. "Some brush closed in on him and when he swept it angrily aside, he saw a stile and the road in front of him. Macadam, automobiles, fence posts, civilization." He has to overcome nature to continue on his journey South to find the gold.
In Chapter 10, we see how ill prepared Milkman is to trek to find the cave in Danville. Milkman flies on an airplane and thinks of it as the most luxurious thing he has done. When in Pittsburgh, he is told he has to take a Greyhound bus to get there he is not looking forward to that. Finally, when Milkman goes out to find the cave he is dressed in his suit, dress shoes, a tie, and a hat. In the line, "Some brush closed in on him and when he swept it angrily aside, he saw a stile and the road in front of him. Macadam, automobiles, fence posts, civilization" (pg. 253). We can see that civilization for Milkman is definitely not found in the woods.
"For a few minutes he tried to enjoy the scenery running past his window, then the city man's boredom with nature's repetition over took him." Milkman is trying something new, trying to really enjoy his new experiences and take everything in, but he has been so spoild all his life and so coddled that the beauty on nature can't hold his attention. In his life the only importance has been put on the material things and the power of money and neverthe beauty of nature so he has never learned to appriciate it. Ella MacVeagh
Milkman's experiences with nature open Milkman up to new opportunities and experiences that he had never known before. "He was oblivious to the universe of wood life that did live there" (219). He's from Michigan, and doesn't know what it's like to 1. live with nature and 2. have to get by on not just your ample supply of money. In addition, when Milkman is talking to Reverend Cooper and the other men, then talk about the two older Macon Dead's in a way that Milkman had never heard before. "They described and love that boy's father, with his hip-roofed barn his peach trees, and Sunday break-of-dawn fishing parties in a fish pond that was two acres wide" (235). Back home, Macon Dead is known to be a greedy and selfish man, which is how Milkman sees him. But his journey down south and these men's words about his dad and the peach trees let's Milkman see other people's completely different perspectives of his father when he was younger.
Milkman understands that nature is beautiful and magical, I just don't think that he cares. At first, he is hardly in awe at the nature surrounding him, but by the end of the chapter, it almost annoys him. When he first boards the train, "he tried to enjoy the scenery running past his window, then the city man's boredom with nature's repetition overtook him." (226) Then, at the end of the chapter, he claims, "The low hills in the distance were no longer scenery to him. They were real places that could split your thirty dollar shoes." (257) He is not interested in the scenery, just the destination.
Milkman doesn't appreciate nature at first, because he's a thoughtless, self-centered fool. Everybody's favorite shows how he has "the city man's boredom with nature's repetition." (226) But then, when he's getting a healthy dose of good old country down-homeyness from Reverend, he starts feeling some respect, awe and attachment for his family's old farm, "the only farm in the county that grew...real peaches like they had in Georgia," and even his hated father, who "outran, outplowed, outshot, outpicked, outrode them all." These are not Milkman's typical emotions about his family. Maybe he's having some positive character change, finally.
Milkman doesn't appreciate nature the way many others do in this book. He is very money-orientated as seen where he wears a fancy suit to the south to look for the gold. As he walks around the southern country side he doesn't really grasp the concept of nature and the narrator even says, "He was oblivious to the universe of wood life that did live there" (page 219)and tries to avoid going off the path at all costs. -Kate Rhodes
Milkmen all through, chapter 10 is traveling to get to the cave where Macon and Pilate left the gold. Milkmen wanted to get the gold, that finally his dad would feel proud of himself. As Milkmen was walking through the forest getting to the cave, Milkmen slides on the “slimy stones at the bottom… he slipped to one knee… snorting water he cursed the creek, which was too shallow to swim and too rocky to walk.” (Pg 249). Milkmen is not happy and relax walking in the forest he only smells “… soft twinkling lights… Las Vegas… and buried treasure…” He only wants to get the gold and ignores nature at all cost.
At the start of the chapter Milkman's motives are greedy. When walking through the forest he shows that he is a quite sheletered child having never experienced such obvious aspects of nature. For Example,"he had no idea that walking through trees, bushes, on untrammpled gorund could be so hard." (250)This is an obvious fact to anyone that has ever hikes or camped and shows his severe lack of experience. He also comes to apreciate the hard work of his family and how their hard work allowed him his easy life and led to his lack of knowledge. He also shows how much more knowlegable they were. "Cleared this? Choped down this? This stuff he could barely walk through" (250)
Milkman has never had any experience in an environment other than his hometown, a rather urban setting where he is well respected and is able to work things so they go the way he wants them. In the South, however, he has no idea how to manage. He doesn't understand proper dress, etiquette, even who to trust with his things. He assumes that because he is who he is, everything will work out for him. To a certain extent, that works (people offer him hospitality, he has money to meet his needs) but when he is on his own, exploring he "had no idea.... (working through nature) would be so difficult." He underestimates the power of that which he cannot control, and is thus surprised when he struggles so much to acheive something on his own. -Lena
Milkman has no idea that "simply walking through trees.. could be so hard." (250) Morrison explains that the only experience he has with the woods is the one at the city park. He also thinks that in other outings, there are always "tiny convenient paths"(250) that lead you through. I honestly find Milkman to be pathetic. His first encounter with nature was when he is 32 years old. I don't think Thoreau would have been to look Milkman in the eyes...
Now finally, the story goes around Milkman. However, he doesn’t seem fit to his situation right now. He now sees the nature, which he doesn’t see in the city. When he is in the bus, Milkman was able to see it as being “merely green”(226); he cannot understand what’s going on. Of course, I think he can see how beautiful and magical the nature is, though. Now he is heading to Danvile, especially to a cave.
Milkman, to say it simply, does not have a good experience with nature. In this chapter, it serves more as an obstacle to his goal and a source of frustration than something worthy of appreciation. For example, Morrisson goes into great depth describing how Milkman "cursed the creek" and then "began to negotiate the rocks" as he trekked through the woods to the cave. (249) (250) Overall, his plight is the most throroughly described part of the chapter, and it is all associated with nature.
Milkman's experience in the south causes him to have a great appreciation of nature. As he's walking through the woods by Circe's house, Milkman realizes he "had no idea that simply walking through trees, bushes, on untrammeled ground could be so hard"(250). He had never imagined nature to be that powerful. After his excursion, "the low hills in the distance were no longer scenery to him. They were real places that could split your thirty-dollar shoes" (257). Being in nature makes Milkman come to see the natural world as an awe-inspiring presense rather than a pretty backdrop to the man made world.
Nature becomes real to Milkman in this chapter, he describes it as something that is "no longer scenery to him "but rather "real places that could split your thirty-dollar shoes"(p.257). This chapter marks the staring point of his journey of self discovery and self validation. -Ofir Lebenthal
The scenes in which Milkman goes hunting were particularly interesting in this chapter. Morrison manages to put Milkman into a more primal state, as the descriptions of the dogs hunting and they fundamental connection between the hunters and their pets. Eventually, she comes as close to stating that people are animals as possible, without actually writing those exact words. I found that this set itself up perfectly for the attack by Guitar, that followed in this primal nature of animalistic behavior.
Visiting his past (Pennsylvania), which just happens to be in nature, makes Milkman reassess his own life. Nature's effect on Milkman is used as a literal symbol for this mental transformation. At first, Milkman couldn't "even [see] a trace of a track" (249) just as he was confused when he first learned familial information from the preacher and circe. Next, just as Milkman must leave his comfortable life to discover his past down south, he must "wade in the coldness of the water and the slimy stones" (249)to physically find his past. Furthermore, he had to step down from his elevated status and carry "his shoes," (249) symbolically taking a step back to discover his past (nature). -Colby
Milkman is very ignorant at first, "oblivious to the universe of wood life that did live there"(219) and how great it is. He has to fight against nature, "coldness of rocks" and "slimy stones"(249) in order to become rich. It is ironic that Milkman is going through nature for the first time as a grown man just because he wants to find the gold so that he can be self-sufficient (not need his father's money), when he is in fact, one of the most not self-sufficient person ever, in terms of being resourceful and surviving in the wilderness. -pema
Milkman not only is in ignorance of much of the nature surrounding him, but at times throughout chapter 10 acts in contempt and irritated towards much of the nature and woods he has to get through to get to the cave. Milkman is seemingly walking though the forest like a chicken with his head cut off, in a foreign country. Milkman "cursed the creek, which was too shallow for him to swim" (249). He acts like the nature is an obstacle to his final goal, embracing none of it has he goes. Milkman "should have pulled a stick to check the depth before he put his foot down" (249), but unfortunately for him, Milkman was acting in ignorance to the depth of the creek, with only the end goal in mind, the gold. Milkman wants to get to the gold to prove adequacy to his father, but he realizes he is not set out to be digging around the woods, and understands that "none of them (Pilate or Macon) tore their clothes as he had" (251). Milkman ignores what nature has to bring, and at points gets embittered at what the nature provides.
When Milkman is in the South he has an experience with Nature that redefines his view. When he is surrounded by the Hunters and the Dogs he observes their interactions and reflects on how how different species used to be able to communicate "when a man and an ape could sit down and converse" (278) This experience alters the way that Milkman looks at communication. Throughout the novel communication and had been difficult with many characters including Macon Jr. and Milkman so this passage marks a significant realization.
Milkman's present experience with nature seems to be "uncomfortable and anxious."(238) Even though this is partly triggered because Nephew won't be back until "an hour," it's indicative of his interaction with nature. The landscape is not accepting this foreigner, and it shows. In fact, it almost seems like it's attacking him! The author states, "His hat had been knocked off by the first branches of the old walnut trees, so he held it in his hand."(238) Then, the novel continues, "His cuffless pants were darkened by the mile-long walk over moist leaves." We're not getting the sense that nature is very accepting of him. Instead it "knocked off" his hat and "darkened" his pants. However, his incessant goal of obtaining the gold overshadows this petty inconveniences as "the gold loomed large in his mind."(238)
Milkman is clearly inexperienced in the way of dealing with nature. He wears a suit, knowing that he'll be trekking to find a cave in the wilderness, and doesn't bother to bring more comfortable clothes. He isn't used to dealing with a physical setting more rural than that of his hometown because it's never mentioned that he's ever left his hometown! Even menial tasks are harder for him in the forest. He doesn't just reach down to grab a lighter out of his pocket, he "fumbled for it, almost faint from the money smell." (252) The possibility of his fortune being within arm's reach is causing some of this, but he's just so out of his element that the nature setting is exacerbating his troubles. Yet, it is nice to see a humanization of Milkman after the chapter that painted him in a somewhat insensitive light.
ReplyDeleteMilkman doesn't seem to have the capability of appreciating the nature he gets to see that he doesn't see in the city. When he is in the bus to Danville, although "his father had raved about the beauty of this part of the country"(226), Milkman really was only able to see it as being "merely green"(226). Already in the very beginning of his journey to the south, we see Milkman's lack of interest for nature. He was easily bored and "nature's repetition overtook him"(226).
ReplyDelete-Chloe Fishman
Milkman sees nature more as an obstacle to his eventual happiness and his living a happy life than it being a good thing. He is stuck in a city mentality in a place pretty far removed from being a city. One clear example of this obstacle, opposite of civilization view is when Milkman gets out of the brush after his unsuccessful attempt at finding the gold. "Some brush closed in on him and when he swept it angrily aside, he saw a stile and the road in front of him. Macadam, automobiles, fence posts, civilization." He has to overcome nature to continue on his journey South to find the gold.
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 10, we see how ill prepared Milkman is to trek to find the cave in Danville. Milkman flies on an airplane and thinks of it as the most luxurious thing he has done. When in Pittsburgh, he is told he has to take a Greyhound bus to get there he is not looking forward to that. Finally, when Milkman goes out to find the cave he is dressed in his suit, dress shoes, a tie, and a hat. In the line, "Some brush closed in on him and when he swept it angrily aside, he saw a stile and the road in front of him. Macadam, automobiles, fence posts, civilization" (pg. 253). We can see that civilization for Milkman is definitely not found in the woods.
ReplyDelete-Ayan
"For a few minutes he tried to enjoy the scenery running past his window, then the city man's boredom with nature's repetition over took him." Milkman is trying something new, trying to really enjoy his new experiences and take everything in, but he has been so spoild all his life and so coddled that the beauty on nature can't hold his attention. In his life the only importance has been put on the material things and the power of money and neverthe beauty of nature so he has never learned to appriciate it.
ReplyDeleteElla MacVeagh
Milkman's experiences with nature open Milkman up to new opportunities and experiences that he had never known before. "He was oblivious to the universe of wood life that did live there" (219). He's from Michigan, and doesn't know what it's like to 1. live with nature and 2. have to get by on not just your ample supply of money. In addition, when Milkman is talking to Reverend Cooper and the other men, then talk about the two older Macon Dead's in a way that Milkman had never heard before. "They described and love that boy's father, with his hip-roofed barn his peach trees, and Sunday break-of-dawn fishing parties in a fish pond that was two acres wide" (235). Back home, Macon Dead is known to be a greedy and selfish man, which is how Milkman sees him. But his journey down south and these men's words about his dad and the peach trees let's Milkman see other people's completely different perspectives of his father when he was younger.
ReplyDeleteMilkman understands that nature is beautiful and magical, I just don't think that he cares. At first, he is hardly in awe at the nature surrounding him, but by the end of the chapter, it almost annoys him. When he first boards the train, "he tried to enjoy the scenery running past his window, then the city man's boredom with nature's repetition overtook him." (226) Then, at the end of the chapter, he claims, "The low hills in the distance were no longer scenery to him. They were real places that could split your thirty dollar shoes." (257) He is not interested in the scenery, just the destination.
ReplyDeleteMilkman doesn't appreciate nature at first, because he's a thoughtless, self-centered fool. Everybody's favorite shows how he has "the city man's boredom with nature's repetition." (226) But then, when he's getting a healthy dose of good old country down-homeyness from Reverend, he starts feeling some respect, awe and attachment for his family's old farm, "the only farm in the county that grew...real peaches like they had in Georgia," and even his hated father, who "outran, outplowed, outshot, outpicked, outrode them all." These are not Milkman's typical emotions about his family. Maybe he's having some positive character change, finally.
ReplyDeleteMilkman doesn't appreciate nature the way many others do in this book. He is very money-orientated as seen where he wears a fancy suit to the south to look for the gold. As he walks around the southern country side he doesn't really grasp the concept of nature and the narrator even says, "He was oblivious to the universe of wood life that did live there" (page 219)and tries to avoid going off the path at all costs.
ReplyDelete-Kate Rhodes
Milkmen all through, chapter 10 is traveling to get to the cave where Macon and Pilate left the gold. Milkmen wanted to get the gold, that finally his dad would feel proud of himself. As Milkmen was walking through the forest getting to the cave, Milkmen slides on the “slimy stones at the bottom… he slipped to one knee… snorting water he cursed the creek, which was too shallow to swim and too rocky to walk.” (Pg 249). Milkmen is not happy and relax walking in the forest he only smells “… soft twinkling lights… Las Vegas… and buried treasure…” He only wants to get the gold and ignores nature at all cost.
ReplyDeleteAt the start of the chapter Milkman's motives are greedy. When walking through the forest he shows that he is a quite sheletered child having never experienced such obvious aspects of nature. For Example,"he had no idea that walking through trees, bushes, on untrammpled gorund could be so hard." (250)This is an obvious fact to anyone that has ever hikes or camped and shows his severe lack of experience. He also comes to apreciate the hard work of his family and how their hard work allowed him his easy life and led to his lack of knowledge. He also shows how much more knowlegable they were. "Cleared this? Choped down this? This stuff he could barely walk through" (250)
ReplyDeleteMilkman has never had any experience in an environment other than his hometown, a rather urban setting where he is well respected and is able to work things so they go the way he wants them. In the South, however, he has no idea how to manage. He doesn't understand proper dress, etiquette, even who to trust with his things. He assumes that because he is who he is, everything will work out for him. To a certain extent, that works (people offer him hospitality, he has money to meet his needs) but when he is on his own, exploring he "had no idea.... (working through nature) would be so difficult." He underestimates the power of that which he cannot control, and is thus surprised when he struggles so much to acheive something on his own.
ReplyDelete-Lena
Milkman has no idea that "simply walking through trees.. could be so hard." (250) Morrison explains that the only experience he has with the woods is the one at the city park. He also thinks that in other outings, there are always "tiny convenient paths"(250) that lead you through. I honestly find Milkman to be pathetic. His first encounter with nature was when he is 32 years old. I don't think Thoreau would have been to look Milkman in the eyes...
ReplyDeleteKeinan
Now finally, the story goes around Milkman. However, he doesn’t seem fit to his situation right now. He now sees the nature, which he doesn’t see in the city. When he is in the bus, Milkman was able to see it as being “merely green”(226); he cannot understand what’s going on. Of course, I think he can see how beautiful and magical the nature is, though. Now he is heading to Danvile, especially to a cave.
ReplyDeleteMilkman, to say it simply, does not have a good experience with nature. In this chapter, it serves more as an obstacle to his goal and a source of frustration than something worthy of appreciation. For example, Morrisson goes into great depth describing how Milkman "cursed the creek" and then "began to negotiate the rocks" as he trekked through the woods to the cave. (249) (250) Overall, his plight is the most throroughly described part of the chapter, and it is all associated with nature.
ReplyDeleteMilkman's experience in the south causes him to have a great appreciation of nature. As he's walking through the woods by Circe's house, Milkman realizes he "had no idea that simply walking through trees, bushes, on untrammeled ground could be so hard"(250). He had never imagined nature to be that powerful. After his excursion, "the low hills in the distance were no longer scenery to him. They were real places that could split your thirty-dollar shoes" (257). Being in nature makes Milkman come to see the natural world as an awe-inspiring presense rather than a pretty backdrop to the man made world.
ReplyDeleteNature becomes real to Milkman in this chapter, he describes it as something that is "no longer scenery to him "but rather "real places that could split your thirty-dollar shoes"(p.257). This chapter marks the staring point of his journey of self discovery and self validation.
ReplyDelete-Ofir Lebenthal
The scenes in which Milkman goes hunting were particularly interesting in this chapter. Morrison manages to put Milkman into a more primal state, as the descriptions of the dogs hunting and they fundamental connection between the hunters and their pets. Eventually, she comes as close to stating that people are animals as possible, without actually writing those exact words. I found that this set itself up perfectly for the attack by Guitar, that followed in this primal nature of animalistic behavior.
ReplyDelete^JD Nurme
ReplyDeleteWhoops, this is chapter ten... my bad
ReplyDelete-JD
Visiting his past (Pennsylvania), which just happens to be in nature, makes Milkman reassess his own life. Nature's effect on Milkman is used as a literal symbol for this mental transformation. At first, Milkman couldn't "even [see] a trace of a track" (249) just as he was confused when he first learned familial information from the preacher and circe. Next, just as Milkman must leave his comfortable life to discover his past down south, he must "wade in the coldness of the water and the slimy stones" (249)to physically find his past. Furthermore, he had to step down from his elevated status and carry "his shoes," (249) symbolically taking a step back to discover his past (nature).
ReplyDelete-Colby
Milkman is very ignorant at first, "oblivious to the universe of wood life that did live there"(219) and how great it is. He has to fight against nature, "coldness of rocks" and "slimy stones"(249) in order to become rich. It is ironic that Milkman is going through nature for the first time as a grown man just because he wants to find the gold so that he can be self-sufficient (not need his father's money), when he is in fact, one of the most not self-sufficient person ever, in terms of being resourceful and surviving in the wilderness.
ReplyDelete-pema
Milkman not only is in ignorance of much of the nature surrounding him, but at times throughout chapter 10 acts in contempt and irritated towards much of the nature and woods he has to get through to get to the cave. Milkman is seemingly walking though the forest like a chicken with his head cut off, in a foreign country. Milkman "cursed the creek, which was too shallow for him to swim" (249). He acts like the nature is an obstacle to his final goal, embracing none of it has he goes. Milkman "should have pulled a stick to check the depth before he put his foot down" (249), but unfortunately for him, Milkman was acting in ignorance to the depth of the creek, with only the end goal in mind, the gold. Milkman wants to get to the gold to prove adequacy to his father, but he realizes he is not set out to be digging around the woods, and understands that "none of them (Pilate or Macon) tore their clothes as he had" (251). Milkman ignores what nature has to bring, and at points gets embittered at what the nature provides.
ReplyDelete-Jordan Bayer
When Milkman is in the South he has an experience with Nature that redefines his view. When he is surrounded by the Hunters and the Dogs he observes their interactions and reflects on how how different species used to be able to communicate "when a man and an ape could sit down and converse" (278) This experience alters the way that Milkman looks at communication. Throughout the novel communication and had been difficult with many characters including Macon Jr. and Milkman so this passage marks a significant realization.
ReplyDeleteMilkman's present experience with nature seems to be "uncomfortable and anxious."(238) Even though this is partly triggered because Nephew won't be back until "an hour," it's indicative of his interaction with nature. The landscape is not accepting this foreigner, and it shows. In fact, it almost seems like it's attacking him! The author states, "His hat had been knocked off by the first branches of the old walnut trees, so he held it in his hand."(238) Then, the novel continues, "His cuffless pants were darkened by the mile-long walk over moist leaves." We're not getting the sense that nature is very accepting of him. Instead it "knocked off" his hat and "darkened" his pants. However, his incessant goal of obtaining the gold overshadows this petty inconveniences as "the gold loomed large in his mind."(238)
ReplyDelete