A Mockingbird Essay: The Comparison Between Milkman And Guitar

The passage reveals Guitar’s explanation to Milkman for joining the Seven Days society when Milkman confronts him on his furtive behavior. The setting of the conversation is at Mary’s bar, where they begin discussing Hagar’s attempted murder but Milkman feels uncomfortable when Guitar questions why Hagar would exhibit such extreme behavior; thus, he turns it around and questions Guitar. Morrison characterizes and illustrates the contrast between Guitar and Milkman in this section through repetition and an accusatory tone. By repeating words and phrases multiple times, Morrison stresses her about the two sides of black activists. Milkman preferred nonviolence and came from a privileged background whereas Guitar preferred violence and came from a poor family; this foil creates highlights the characters’ differences and clashing beliefs towards

Milkman, who believes in justice, does not think these violent actions are vindicated and attempts to convince Guitar that his actions are unacceptable further on in their conversation. “You can’t stop them from killing us, from trying to get rid of us…I help keep the numbers the same…But when a Negro child, Negro woman, or Negro man is killed by whites and nothing is done about it by their law and their courts, this society selects a similar victim at random.” Here Guitar is bitter at the unfair treatment and defends the society’s actions by accusing whites of initiating all the violence and for failing to give equality. The death of his father in a sawmill accident painted all whites in a negative light and he desperately wants change. Guitar can be seen as a parallel to Malcolm X who also believed that blacks should achieve equal rights by any means necessary. The critical and accusatory tone represents Guitar’s beliefs and provides insight into his later actions, such as willing to kill his best friend