Milkman Character Analysis

Not only does Hagar represent the emotional dilemma black women encounter in their subordination in a patriarchal society but she also symbolizes the burden of the racist white mainstream culture on black women’s lives. Feeling desperate to to look beautiful and attracts Milkman, Hagar goes mad in her shopping adventure, mainly in the beauty department: “Like a smiling sleepwalker she circled...clear counters covered with... Lipsticks in soft white hands…. Faces in ecstasy” (311). Hagar sees the archetypal beauty in women with white soft skin who look alluring in lipsticks. In despair, she thinks that wearing makeup will make her look desirable to Milkman. Yet, Hagar encounters the inner struggle of a black woman who feels that white female beauty will always conquer: “He don’t like hair like mine... Silky hair the color of a penny...He loves silky hair… Penny-colored hair...And lemon- colored skin….And gray-blue eyes… And thin nose” (311).

She believes that Milkman denies her love because she does not have gleaming blonde hair, light skin color, and blue eyes like a white female. Hagar is a victim of a society where social discrimination of black women is prevalent. Hence, she falls under the spell of the white culture which considers having shiny golden hair, light skin color, and colorful eyes as the perfection of beauty. Hagar believes that Milkman leaves her because of her frizzy hair and dark skin color that contradict with the expectations of the white's beauty norms. She eventually loses sense of self-worth when she recognizes that she cannot meet expectations of the set-up white beauty scale. Hence, Hagar symbolizes inner conflict of racial discrimination black women experience in their submissiveness to men’s