The Evolution of Guitar

Wow, so I definitely have problems with Guitar at this point in the book. Obviously we are supposed to disagree with him; we are supposed to see how ridiculous the Seven Days are, but seriously, this is painful. The line, “No love? No love? Didn’t you hear me? What I’m doing ain’t about hating white people. It’s about loving us. About loving you. My whole life is love,” uttered by Guitar really struck me (159). This sounds exactly like the Ku Klux Klan. When we learned about the KKK in middle school, that was what I remember was said by many Klansmen. They weren’t about hate, they were about love. The fact that Guitar is now participating in racist murders doesn’t help this comparison. I originally like Guitar, but now, not so much. I even had hope for him to grow as a character. Not too long before this scene, after another leap in time, with Guitar and Milkman being older, they joke about the color of eggs. Guitar jokes, “Black? White? Don’t tell me you’re one of those racial Negroes? Who said anything about black people? This is just a geography lesson” (115). After knowing of Guitar’s hatred of white people in his youth, I hoped that his joking about racial tension and views signified his getting over his racism with age. Now, reflecting back upon this, I believe he is more comfortable discussing and joking about it because he feels a sort of closure. What he sees as injustice is being solved by the actions of the Seven Days. I really don’t know what to think about all this, but the evolution of Guitar’s hatred is quite distressing. He has become more comfortable in life, seemingly settling down, giving up booze, acting like an adult, but he is an assassin. This situation is unnerving: a seemingly normal guy being so violently racist.