Milkman is born on the day that Robert Smith attempts to fly off from the roof of Mercy Hospital. Smith’s suicide foreshadows Milkman’s own fascination with flight and his frustration with being unable to soar. The running joke between Milkman and Guitar is that Milkman, whose last name is Dead, is already dead. Milkman grows up with great privilege but is trapped by family dysfunctions. His parents seem to have no love for each other and always fight. His sisters ignore him with their rose-making occupations. By the time he is in his 30s, Milkman feels that his life is aimless and pointless. He is alienated from his family with their resentments and anger, and alienated from his best friend Guitar, who criticizes his frivolous lifestyle. He chafes from the feeling of being tied down to Hagar, his cousin and sexual partner for the past 12 years.

His desire to fly from home takes hold of him when his father Macon tells him to find the gold that was left in a cave near Macon’s childhood home. At first, Milkman resists the call of gold, but after discussing it with Guitar, who encourages him, Milkman becomes driven by the desire to pursue the gold.