In my previous post I wrote about Annette and how people perceive her as "mad" and the unfairness of this judgement. As we sat in class and talked about the craziness of everyone in Milkman's life, I felt the same urge to protect Pilate as I did with Annette, so here we go. Pilate isn't perceived in the same way as Annette is; that is, she's not seen so much as crazy as she is strange, but nevertheless, she is not for "respectable people" to interact with.
Like Annette, it seems that she will do anything for her children, or children she feels very close to. She feels a strong protective urge for them. We see this most obviously with Reba, her actual daughter, when one of her boyfriends was hitting her over trying to get more money out of her. Pilate arrives on scene and without missing a beat or batting an eye puts a knife just a wee bit into his chest. She is disturbingly calm and rational as she talks to this man with a knife up against his heart, and explains to him how her babies are all she's got and she'll do anything for them. This to me resonated the most with Annette, and how Annette was threatening to kill her husband for what he had done to Pierre. This fierce need to protect her children is also seen with Milkman, as every time Hagar goes out to try to kill him, we are told that Pilate beats her. As much as Hagar is her child, she fought for Milkman's life and holds undeniable maternal feelings for him, and as such also needs to protect him, even from her own kin. Likewise, she breaks a bottle over Milkman's head after he causes Hagar's death. As much as she cares for Milkman, she would never let him just live without taking responsibility for Hagar's life.
Both Pilate and Annette are outcast members of society, and Pilate herself admits that that factor contributes greatly to her extreme protectiveness of her children. She mentions this while pushing the knife into the man's chest, saying that her babies are all she has and she would do anything to keep them safe. Though Pilate and Annette share their intense maternal protective instincts and place in the social hierarchy, there are differences in how they receive this placement. Because Annette had a taste of what it was like to be a member of society, she takes the fall much harder and truly does fall into madness. Pilate on the other hand, never had a chance to be part of normal society. When she began to get close to people they would discover her navel-lessness and push her away. All her life that had been how she lived, so she accepts her place much more willingly. In my head, I like to imagine at one point she just said "screw this" to everyone pushing her away and made her own way in life, knowing that the only people who would accept her would be her family, possibly only her children, and she was okay with that.
So, is it really fair to call Pilate crazy? Well, who can judge for sure?
I love Pilate! What hit me so hard was Pilate and Reba at Hagar's funeral and the sheer command Pilate has. When she is singing and talking about Hagar the entire room seems afraid or engaged. It's another example of Pilate being fiercely devoted to her family
ReplyDeleteGreat analysis! I like Pilate a lot more than Annette, but your comparisons between them were really interesting. Your descriptions of the tensions between Milkman, Hagar, and Pilate are especially compelling - I'd never noticed the parental way Pilate loves both of them and tries to protect them equally. I also think Pilate's love is much more nourishing and less finicky than Annette's, but maybe that's just my favoritism playing in.
ReplyDeletePilate is one of those characters that could care less with following social rules. Rather, she abides by her own principles and is fiercely protective of those she loves. That's a quality that I truly admire. As a result of being less inclined to follow these social rules, she might end up coming off as more "crazy."
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting. I hadn't noticed these similarities. I agree that they're both somewhat isolated, but I think Pilate is much more respected, at least by those within her community (not the people Macon runs with), than Annette is. Before the scene with Reba's boyfriend, there's this bit of narration where it's mentioned that if that boyfriend hadn't been new to town, he would've known not to mess with Pilate's kids.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is very accurate and I think that the caring/maternal figure is a character that we are all drawn to supporting to some degree. I think that literary depictions of this relationship is one that most people can relate to and it's an easy relationship to get behind. I think that I was more drawn towards Pilate because she felt more like a mother figure? I really supported Anette when she was standing up against Mr. Mason because she knew he was wrong, but her lack of care and parenting of Antoinette (particularly told from Antoinette's pov) was something that I struggled to reconcile.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I don't think Pilate is at all crazy. She acts in ways which make her appear crazy to others, sometimes, and she's odd, but she doesn't seem crazy. Her 'crazy' actions are pretty much only when she is defending her family, and she doesn't really have anyone else she can turn to to do that for her.
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