Does Guitar Act Out of Love?

Is the seven days an organization of love? That is how Guitar describes it. In Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, Milkman’s best friend Guitar joins an organization called the seven days. The seven days consists of seven men each representing one day of the week. If a murder of a black person by a white person goes unpunished, the person assigned the day of the week that the murder happened on is responsible for avenging that death by killing an innocent white person in an equivalent way.

Guitar justifies killing innocent white people as revenge by saying that no white person is truly innocent because they are all capable of murdering a black person if put in the right situation. Therefore, in his mind, are the white people he kills indirectly responsible for the black persons murder? Guitar’s argument also extends to the unfailing innocence of black people. He declares white people to be unnatural, and that’s the reason they are capable of racism, thus making black people natural and incapable of racism. 

When Guitar reveals his secret to Milkman, Milkman identifies many flaws with this justification. One being that he thinks many white people can be good and have done things to oppose racism. Guitar makes the claim that white people are unnatural, which gives him the right to kill them as retribution, however when Milkman asks him if Eleanor Roosevelt would help kill a black person, he says he isn’t sure about the women. He then recalls how some white women have held their babies up to watch lynchings, as a way to prove white women aren’t innocent either. I think this is the first hint we see of Guitar’s rationalization falling away, because he has to convince himself first before being sure of all white women being guilty.

I think this supports Milkman’s point that enough killing will make a person able to kill anyone. Basically, Guitar wasn’t sure about if Eleanor Roosevelt would do the thing he claims makes his killing of white people justified, but then seems to reason killing someone like her by grouping her with pictures of white women he has seen at lynchings. Guitar was convincing himself anyway possible to justify killing innocent people, which I think is especially shown when he becomes intent on killing four young white girls in retribution for the murder of four young black girls. When Guitar first joined the Seven Days, I wonder if he understood that he might also have to kill children, and I wonder if that would change his initial decision. After being in the Seven Days and becoming accustomed to the killing involved, vindicating his actions probably became easier, ultimately making the assignment of killing children easier. 

This makes his statement that his actions stem from love especially confusing. It’s very hard to understand how Guitar could associate killing innocent children with love. I also wonder how far he would be able to go with this justification. At one point in chapter 6, Milkman asks Guitar why the Seven Days is kept a secret if it would give black people hope. Milkman also says that the Seven Days isn’t changing his own life, and probably isn’t changing many black people’s lives. We do, however, see that Milkman may not have the best understanding of racism when he is surprised by the lack of action after the death of Macon Dead I, so would he be the best judge of whether or not Guitar’s actions do change the lives of black people? It's hard to understand why Guitar thinks he is acting out of love, because the only people it seems to directly effect are the people he killed, and their families. Guitar’s actions seem like they could quickly spiral and ultimately may not have the effect he thinks they do, and I'm curious how they would appear differently from his perspective versus Milkman’s. How does Guitar think his actions effect black people?

Execution is Sad :(

I’ve always hated books that end with the main character dying. Death is one of the most important phases of life, so killing your main character always offers a huge theme for readers to explore within the ending. However, in my opinion, it always feels like a cheap ending. Oftentimes, it feels like the author can’t think of an interesting way to end the story, so they kill off the main character to create complexity. Because of this, I wonder what specifically makes this type of ending feel cheap to me, and if The Stranger fits this criticism.

The Stranger ends with the main character, Mersault, awaiting execution by guillotine. I think the large purpose of having Mersault sentenced to death was to show him go through various emotions, which is significant because Mersault notably showed very little emotion up until this point. Nearing the end of the book, he has an unexpected burst of anger when the chaplain comes to visit him and continues to pester him about religion. During this time, Mersault has slowly come to accept his death and has come to the conclusion that basically most of life is just waiting for death. He seems to think that since he will eventually die, it doesn’t matter if he dies now or in 50 years. 

So was the ending of The Stranger the only interesting finale Camus could think of? At first glance, I feel like the ending seems to have a certain disconnect with the first part of the book. It can be hard to connect the two, because part one Mersault doesn’t have an overwhelming amount of deep feelings or insights on life, whereas part two Mersault is creating huge life and death philosophies. On closer inspection, however, I do feel like part one has many significant moments to the finale of part two. For example, the theme of death is already very important to the story, as The Stranger begins with Mersault discovering the news of his mothers death. The events in part one are also all laid out in the trial in part two, as Mersault’s reaction to his mother’s death is extremely interesting to the court. It almost felt like his actions in part one relating to his mother’s death were on trial instead of the actual crime he committed. 

Because of the trial, I would say the events in part one are very significant to part two and Mersault’s final conclusion on life, prompted by his death sentence. While many books will use the ‘kill off the main character’ trope as a shocking twist in the story to surprise readers and make the ending more interesting, I don’t think that was the intention or effect of The Stranger. Camus seems to build the entire book up around the ideas of life and death, and makes many moments in the story significant to Mersault’s final conclusions on the topic. This makes for a well-thought out ending that is vital to the structure of the story. Despite this, I still wish it didn’t end that way. It makes me sad.

Brett's Lost Love

            For the majority of The Sun Also Rises, my opinion of Brett was quite poor. It feels really easy to see all the negative sides of Brett, because many of her actions negatively affect Jake with seemingly no good reason. At first, Brett’s character is confusing because she goes from partying and drinking and generally seeming like a constantly happy, free spirit to the scene in the taxi where she suddenly becomes very somber and serious about her relationship with Jake. Brett’s persona in the taxi is completely contradictory to her actions outside of it, which we soon learn is really how she acts alone with Jake versus when other people are around. My impression of Brett throughout the entire story was that she didn’t truly care about Jake because despite claiming to love him, it felt like she was also pushing her other relationships in his face.

It wasn’t until the end of the book that I realized there could be another side to the situation. It’s mentioned that Brett and Jake met and fell in love when she was a nurse. This perplexes me because I can’t imagine Brett working as a nurse, therefore I imagine her character has changed since they met. Likely, she would have woken up at normal hours, and drunk a more appropriate amount of alcohol, and she would have had to be more serious of a person. Like many people in Paris after the war, I would guess that Brett has adopted a more carefree and partying persona as a response to the trauma she experienced as a war nurse. I also think Brett could be distracting herself from the reality of her and Jake’s relationship, and maybe even unconsciously punishing herself for not being able to accept a relationship with Jake without sexual relations. I often questioned why Jake constantly welcomed and supported Brett despite her treating him poorly. At one point in the book, Jake alludes to Brett losing the love of her life during the war as an explanation for the way she acts. I think Jake could have been referring to himself, because Brett calls him the love of her life at another point in the book. I think Jake cares for her despite the way she treats him, because he knows she is reacting to losing him as the love of her life. He isn’t judging her for the way she reacts to losing him, because he knows what it feels like to lose her.

Clarissa and Her Elizabeth

Clarissa Dalloway and her daughter Elizabeth in Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf have a very interesting relationship. Clarissa never thinks anything bad about her daughter- she is constantly loving and only criticizes Elizabeth’s choices in friends. Elizabeth, on the other hand, seems slightly annoyed by her mother and passive to the idea of spending time with her. In some cases, while seeming odd, the relationship is also reminiscent of many mother-daughter relationships today. It reminds me of how teenagers seem to always go through a phase of being annoyed and feeling misunderstood by their parents. I think Elizabeth especially feels this way because Clarissa tends to push Elizabeth to be a different person, one more like herself. 

It’s important to note that Elizabeth is very different from her mother. She mentions only ever wanting to stay in their country house with her father and her dogs. While Clarissa is running around making sure all her party guests are content, Elizabeth is waiting around worrying over her dog upstairs. When Clarissa wants to take Elizabeth shopping, Elizabeth would rather spend time with Miss. Kilman, who both Clarissa and Richard Dalloway dislike. I especially think the way Clarissa views Elizabeth and Miss Kilman's relationship is telling of the mother-daughter dynamic in this book. I feel like there is certainly a lot of jealousy coming from Clarissa’s side. On one hand, I feel like Clarissa could be sensing she is being replaced. Miss Kilman can offer Elizabeth many things that Clarissa can not, including the reason they first met, that Miss Kilman could tutor her extensively on history. Clarissa often feels belittled for caring about ‘trivial’ things like parties and sewing (especially by Peter). Since it seems like Elizabeth doesn’t care for these things and would rather have the education and opportunities Clarissa was never given and can’t help Elizabeth with, I can see how Clarissa may feel left behind and once again trivialized for the things she enjoys to do. Not to mention there is definitely some bitterness over the fact that Miss Kilman is very poor and by Clarissa’s standards, very far beneath her, yet still has the education that Clarissa lacks. 

On the other hand, I think Clarissa may also hold some resentment over Elizabeth and Miss Kilman’s friendship because it reminds her of her and Sally Seton’s companionship, which was left behind so long ago. At its base, this story seems like Clarissa reminiscing about her teenage years and the life and friends she left behind. It would be fitting in this story for Clarissa to be upset about Elizabeth and Miss Kilman because she is jealous her daughter has something she lost. Sally Seton was extremely important to Clarissa, so much that Clarissa basically expressed her feelings for Sally as a true love she never quite felt with anyone else. I imagine losing a relationship like that would be heartbreaking, so seeing her daughter have that with Miss Kilman may bring back grief for what she lost with Sally. 

Overall, however, I think what is more interesting is that Elizabeth doesn’t seem to have the same extremely complex feelings over her relationships as both Clarissa and Miss Kilman have. While Clarissa and Miss Kilman both express deep feelings of dislike over each other and seem to be fighting over Elizabeth, Elizabeth seems passive over both of them. While she avoids spending time with her mother in favor of Miss Kilman, the moments we see of her and Miss Kilman’s interactions are a little sad. It feels like Elizabeth doesn’t actually care much about Miss Kilman, which is obvious when she abandons her at the shops and instead goes to ride an omnibus for no other reason than that she doesn’t want to go home yet and she likes the fresh air. It feels like Elizabeth is just a person with simple desires surrounded by characters who are complicated and often have too much drama among them. I think it's refreshing to have a character like Elizabeth, and I think every book should have one of her.

Nostalgia in The Mezzanine

         Nostalgia is an extremely prominent theme in The Mezzanine. In fact, without Howie reflecting upon his memories, the book would be quite bland. Many of the interesting observations Howie makes on his trip to the top of the building would be without context, leaving readers less invested in the character and the significance of his thoughts. For example, on pages 27-28, Howie makes a connection between the doorknob he is inspecting, to his father and his habit of draping ties over doorknobs. What started as an expression of his dislike towards modern door knobs, turned into a reminiscence of the door knobs he grew up with, and then his fathers ties, which leads Howie to look back on a thanksgiving event when his father complimented his tie. This scene shows readers a lot about Howie’s character. It follows the theme of Howie going on long rants. It shows his deep attention to detail as well as his obsession with mechanisms and making things work most effectively. But it also shows a slightly different side of him. The way he thinks about his childhood in an almost longing way shows a possible loneliness and nostalgia for his parents.

        The moment also reveals the small child-like part left of him. While he seems at first very analytical and possibly a little robotic, there are small instances when he seems like a child playing at adult, “I spotted what had been my tie hanging over a door knob in the midst of all the ties he had bought himself, and it fit right in, it fit right in!” (Baker 28). He says after discovering a tie he swapped with his father at a thanksgiving dinner. His excitement over his tie seeming to belong with his father’s reminds me of a small child dressing in their parents clothes or for example, myself as a child trying to replicate my elder sister’s hairstyles on my own head. While this is only one instance of nostalgia making it’s way into the narration, there are many occasions where the author is reminded of his past. I would argue that these scenes are the most instrumental in the way the author makes Howie a more relatable character. By showing readers Howie’s nostalgic thoughts, where he seems a little more relatable than his more methodical side, which can seem a little confusing to many readers I presume, the author helps to make a deeper connection with readers that creates both a more interesting story line and greater character-reader relationship.