Really, Milkman learns that the world does not revolve around him. I know that may seem like a broad answer, but think about how he lives his life in the first part of the story - his parents, his sisters, Hagar, Pilate all do whatever they can to make Milkman's life easier. His parents may argue and pull him in separate directions to their corresponding relationships, but each one truly has his best interests at...
Really, Milkman learns that the world does not revolve around him. I know that may seem like a broad answer, but think about how he lives his life in the first part of the story - his parents, his sisters, Hagar, Pilate all do whatever they can to make Milkman's life easier. His parents may argue and pull him in separate directions to their corresponding relationships, but each one truly has his best interests at heart. It's easy to pass judgment on Milkman as a selfish person, but he really didn't know any other way of life in Part I.
In Part II, Milkman goes on a physical and emotional journey and makes a significant transformation. He travels to the South to trace his family's heritage, following Macon Dead to his true beginnings and finds out Macon's real name - Jake. This awareness provides Milkman with new eyes with which to see the world and the people in his family. He understands now that he has been a selfish person, mostly with Hagar. He owns his responsibility in her death after learning this lesson. He realizes how the true struggle his father endured in order to become the successful man he is, and he realizes what a unique person Pilate is, not the strange woman he originally thought.
This spiritual awareness he gains by knowing Jake's history literally "fixes" Milkman - after understanding his true heritage, the limp he walks with cures itself. This is the real indicator that Milkman has changed. Finally, at the end, we see the he has let go of all that was holding him down, baggage, and he is able to "fly."
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