Blog Post 11: Too Much in Chapter 4

Milkman was attracted by Hagar because of the love she showed towards him. He felt lonely but being with Hagar made him feel wanted. Same way we want to be loved and feel part of a family is the same way Milkman felt. He just needed someone to be with, "From the time he first saw her, when he was twelve and she was seventeen, he was deeply in love with her" (Morrison 92) But the fact that he was growing and that she was his cousin, made him come to his senses. Milkman describes how Hagar is by saying, "She was odd, funny, quirky company, spoiled, but artlessly so and therefore more refreshing than most of the girls his own age." (Morrison 98) This shows that Milkman in a way prefers older, mature girls rather than girls his own age. The book also states, "Everybody who knew him knew about Hagar, but she was considered his private honey pot, not a real or legitimate girl friend-not someone he might marry." (Morrison 91) He still likes her but does not want to get attached with her because then she will think he wants to marry her, "But nothing that would give her any ideas about marriage." (Morrison 91) After they had been together for a long time, he says that he does not have to even work for him to get something out of her, it is explained in a big paragraph in the beginning of chapter 4. "Now, after more than a dozen years, he was getting tired of her... He didn't even have to pay for it. It was so free, so abundant, it had lost its favor. There was no excitement, no galloping of blood in his neck or his heart at the thought of her." (Morrison 91) Him not having to work for being with her, makes him want to not be with her at all.