37 pages • 1 hour read
Neil GaimanFortunately, the Milk
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2013A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Milk
The bottle of milk is symbolic of something to be cherished and protected, above all else—the way a father cherishes and protects his family. The father in the story does everything possible to keep the milk safe and within his reach, willing to risk great personal harm to ensure the milk reaches its destination intact, mirroring the lengths a father will go to for his children. The status of the milk is further elevated by the dinosaurs, who hail it as the hero who saves the universe. The children are simply waiting for some milk to put on their cereal, but in their father’s story, where the milk is revered and worshipped, it is no longer “simply” milk, but a symbol of love, sacrifice, and ultimately success.
“Fortunately, the Milk”
The phrase “Fortunately, the milk […]” is repeated in each leg of the adventure, printed in bold type for emphasis. For example, as the father is sucked up into the spaceship: “Fortunately, I had put the milk into my coat pocket” (12). And as the father falls into the sea: “Fortunately, I had kept tight hold of the milk” (16). And as the father climbs up the rope ladder into the hot air balloon: “Fortunately, the milk was pushed deep into the pocket of my coat” (26). And as the father zooms toward the volcano: “Fortunately, I was still keeping tight hold of the milk in my right hand” (30).
The motif runs throughout the book, tying the threads of the father’s journey together and keeping the milk at the center. The phrase reassures the children that the milk is being protected. Safeguarding the milk and getting it home is their father’s only focus, and this recurring phrase underscores that point. On the one occasion that the father loses the milk, the phrase changes to: “Unfortunately, I dropped the milk. I wasn't holding onto it tightly enough” (42). The father takes full responsibility for the passage of the milk, proud when he keeps it safe while performing superhuman stunts, and sad when he drops it. This recurring phrase captures both emotions.
Time
The motif of time appears throughout the book, both in the narrative told by the young boy and the story told by the boy’s father. Time moves slowly for the children while they wait for their father to get home from the store. From the children’s perspective, their father takes “Ages and ages” to get home with the milk, while their father recalls just stopping to “say a brief hello to Mister Ronson” (10, 11). This illustrates that the experience of time is relative: Waiting for something makes time feel slow, while doing something fun (chatting to a friend) makes time fly by. The children’s father clearly struggles with punctuality. The boy predicts that his father stopped to talk and “lost track of time” (10), implying that this happens often.
Their father’s story literally explores the concept of “time” by using a time machine. When they first meet in the 18th century, Professor Steg is in her future while the father is in his past, showing the relativity of time. They approach their meeting from different points of space and time, each bringing their unique perspectives. Steg marvels that “In the distant future, small mammals put milk on their breakfast cereal” (29), while the father helps to educate 18th-century pirates on how to construct and use a plank.
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By Neil Gaiman
