Part 1, Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. Mr. Smith jumps off the hospital to his death. (Chapter 1)

2. Milkman is the first Black baby born at Mercy Hospital. (Chapter 1)

3. Unable to read, Macon I signs away his land. (Chapter 2)

4. Guitar is angry over the injustice of Emmitt Till’s murder. (Chapter 3)

Short Answer

1. Freddie catches Ruth breastfeeding Macon III as a young boy. Ruth feels shame over the discovery. Later, Milkman and his father can only guess the event that led to the naming, and they also feel shame. (Chapter 1)

2. Pilate’s father chooses her name randomly from the Bible. After being told its meaning, he says Jesus let his wife die, so the baby’s name will be Pilate. (Chapter 1)

3. In response to Mr. Smith’s desperation and Hagar’s claim that some of her days “were hungry ones,” someone sings a song about Sugarman flying away and leaving others behind. (Chapter 2)

4. Milkman knocks his father to the floor and warns him to stop hitting Ruth. In response, Macon II tells Milkman that he found Ruth lying naked beside her dead father while sucking his fingers.