In the novel, "Song of Soloman", us readers are exposed to the topic of ownership numerous times. An argument between Milkman and Guitar that is reoccurring throughout the novel displays what an unhealthy, aggressive need for ownership and power can do to a person. As part of the Seven Days, Guitar must engage in violent acts against innocent whites in order to avenge the murders of blacks. While Milkman views this group as cruel and barbaric, as would most people, Guitar tells him that the group's actions are necessary and are done out of pure love for their people. At first, I fully believed that Guitar's motive was out of love alone. However, after we analyzed Guitar as a class, I discovered what his true motives for killing were. As a member of the black community, you would think that Guitar would be fighting solely for the freedom and power of any black. However, this is not the case. Guitar is killing innocent whites in order to gain ownership and control over black women, Milkman, etc. This is extremely ironic and came across as very confusing to me at first, but as I thought about it more, it became a more clear. Guitar is jealous of the power discrepancy between the two races, therefore when he kills whites, he gains power and takes away some power from the whites, leaving him feeling more superior. Guitar says, "Slave names don't bother me; but slave status does." (Morrison 160). This shows Guitars philosophy that if he kills more whites, then his status becomes higher and the he gains more power.
The Stranger's Meursault, displays a pattern of behavior that is very uncommon in most literary works. While readers are usually able to relate to the main character and sympathize with the emotions that they are feeling, Meursault is the opposite. The way Meursault interacts and feels about certain situations and characters is quite strange, as if he's almost a stranger (hence the title) to the readers throughout the novel. We begin to wonder, is he a sociopath? Where are his emotions? Or why does he act this way? We wonder these questions because of how unfamiliar his character is to its readers. A term to somewhat describe Meursault's perspective and type of behavior would be nihilism. A nihilist is someone that does not believe in anything, has no loyalties, and ultimately believes that they, and society, have no purpose. Wow, that sure sounds like someone I'd love to be around! Meursault's detached personality erupts strange emotional behavior. For example, du...
I like how you analysed the motives of Guitar killing the white people when you first looked at it and then after looking at it again saw a different meaning when you looked at it again. I think that Guitar killing these white people could be a mixture of the two motives. Maybe he first started out killing these white people out of love for his black people, but after doing it several times he liked the feeling of power and continued to do it to chase this feeling of power and gain ownership.
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