Gold and Greed

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I think it is astounding at how desperate some people can get in their search for riches. Milkman traveled so far away from home in search of something that he wasn't even sure was there. I think it was quite ironic that Milkman was wealthy enough to afford the trip all the way down to Philadelphia, and he was able to simply carry $500 worth of cash in his pocket, but yet he still craved for more money. What stood out to me was that Milkman was so ignorant during his search for the gold. He simply gets out a lighter and takes about 30 seconds looking for the gold. What I think he should've done is went back to town, rested up for a bit and collected the tools that he needed to succeed in his search for the gold. If he had just went out and bought a shovel as well as a proper flashlight, there seems to have been a good chance that he would've found the gold. I thought it was also incredibly dumb of him to just tuck his tail between his legs and run off to Virginia in hopes of finding more gold.

But there also is the argument that can be made about the reason as to why Milkman ran off to Virginia was not based strictly off of his search for gold. Possible, it was a search of personal fulfillment; a means to which he could truly identify what made Milkman, Milkman.

Comments

  1. Kennedy's ThoughtsOctober 27, 2019 at 8:14 PM

    I feel like Milkman is just really lazy. He's had everything handed to him his whole life, and he expects finding the gold to be just like that. He has no sense of work ethic or endurance, which is evident throughout this whole book.

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