Lena's (only) Rant
At the end of part 1 in Song of Solomon , I was pretty surprised at how Lena completely bashed Milkman on the last more-than-thirty years of his life. She talks about how he has been "laughing at [Lena, Corinthians, and Ruth, their] whole life" (215). She talks about how he never cleans after himself, thinks that he is the privileged of the family, and is basically a "sad, pitiful, stupid, selfish, hateful man" (216). But this is the first time I've ever seen Lena in action, and passionately in action. Even Milkman is surprised that she even talks to him, since he thinks that she was someone "to whom he had not said more than four consecutive sentences since he was in ninth grade" (211). Even though this is her only part in the novel that is significant, she makes her point well, and Milkman does take at least some of it to heart when he sets out on his adventure. Not all of it of course... Her grievances against him are legitimate. She talks about ho...