“The book clearly reveals the disparate and extremely complex ways Afro-Americanshave thought about the quality of their lives; it also reveals what many of them have decided to do about it individually and collectively. In creating the Seven Days, Morrison reaches into the historical black community and its contemporary equivalent to reveal a dissonance which has always characterized the Afro- American world. This dissonance, tension, or Yin-Yang polarity unfolds principally through the relationship between Guitar Bains, spokesperson for the Seven Days, and his friend Milkman Dead, the middle-class protagonist of Solomon. Their socioeconomic differences,consequential socializations, and their divergent experiences are a microcosm for thetwo most distinguishable Afro-American ideological streams and their respective historical advocates.” –page 150
“Guitar and Milkman are also at opposite ends of the class/race spectrum. Guitar belongs to the wider black community, and as his movements throughout the community (from Feather's pool room to Tommy's barbershop to Mary's bar) illustrate, he has accumulated his knowledge of the world and self through conscious thought and worldly experiences. Guitar is street; Milkman is house. Guitar, moreover, has learned about the tragedy of black life in America from the personal tragedy of his father's murder and from those men who stand in opposition to what Milkman's father, Macon Dead, represents. In short, Guitar joins the Seven Days because of his experiences and his life, as if Morrison were suggesting that it takes just such experiences and tragedies for black men to embrace a revolutionary praxis. Milkman, on the other hand, ends up rejecting his backgroundand the world his father has created for him by setting out to rediscover his racial past-a noble quest but one which is only individually rewarding.”
–page 155
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