Meursault and Guitar
When I read about Guitar's involvement in the Days, it reminded me of Meursault. They both committed murder, but in totally different situations. I want to compare and contrast their situations and find some meaning in them.
Meursault committed murder without any clear motive, and with little feeling in it. He holds nihilistic beliefs that allowed him to do that. In contrast, despite a deep aversion to murder, Guitar commits murder out of a sense of duty, as if it were a responsibility of his. His reasoning is that he has to keep the ratio the same between black and white people. He also harbors deep hatred of white people, in contrast to Meursault, who seems to have nothing against Arabs.
Meursault and Guitar are in opposing classes. Guitar knows that black people get no justice in white courts; he believes he is defending his people by killing innocent white people (although in his mind, there are no innocent white people, as every one of them is a potential nword killer). He is not in society's favor. On the other hand, Meursault is a French colonist of Algeria, and the courts are greatly in his favor. The Arab man he kills isn't even really considered in Meursault's trial. Meursault has no way to defend his actions besides his claim of the sun making him tense up.
The nature of the crimes committed by Meursault and Guitar are also different. While one can argue Meursault's crime was of the first degree, Meursault doesn't think about the murder at all before it happens, so it isn't really premeditated. On the other hand, Guitar's crimes are premeditated every time. He picks an innocent white person with no selection bias, and kills them on a Sunday to pay for any black people murdered on a Sunday.
Meursault and Guitar also have very different ideologies. Meursault believes that nothing matters; he is a nihilist, and so he considers his crime unimportant. Guitar is just the opposite; he knows murder is wrong, and it matters very much. He says that "every death is the death of five to seven generations" (154). This shows that Guitar grasps the importance of his actions, but it also is his reasoning for doing it. He has to, because it is important, otherwise white people will overwhelm black people. Guitar also says that it doesn't matter whether he dies now or later as long as he dies for something. Guitar's ideology fundamentally differs from Meursault's in that Guitar acknowledges the meaning and importance of his actions.
When comparing Meursault and Guitar's ideologies, Guitar's seems like the lesser evil. After all, Meursault is committing senseless violence, and Guitar is enacting justice the only way he can, out of love for his people. However, Guitar's reasoning is quasi-logical. Even if there are terrible white people killing innocent black people, doing the same thing just means you're like them even if your heart is in the right place. If your beliefs mattered more than your actions, Meursault wouldn't even be a murderer. Guitar is actually the greater evil, because he will continue to kill. That's the big distinction. And as Milkman notices, "If you do it enough, you can do it to anybody. You know what I mean? A torpedo is a torpedo, I don't care what his reasons. You can off anybody you don't like. You can off me" (162). Meursault could theoretically off anyone as well, but he isn't inclined to. If both were left unchecked for a year, Guitar would undoubtedly have more blood on his hands than Meursault.
I'm not quite sure what main point I want to make here, but I found it interesting to analyze the differences between Meursault and Guitar's situations. I guess a main point that can be taken from this is that murder is murder, no matter how you look at it. It's morally wrong to kill someone, and although I can imagine a situation in which I would kill someone, that doesn't mean murder is ever right. As Batman once said, "When you kill a killer, the number of killers in the world remains the same."
I find it so interesting how Meursault and Guitar can be the same, yet so different at the same time. Obviously, the main connection is that they both kill someone (or, in Guitar's case, people), but that is a pretty big thing to have in common. I think the main defining difference comes from their background, which is mainly formed by their race and the hardships/privileges they have faced because of it. The racism Guitar has experienced is what pushes him to violence, and forms his ideology behind his actions. This was a very interesting post and I like the quote at the end!
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ReplyDeleteThese are some really interesting points, but I think one big question that we have to ask ourselves when analyzing and contrasting these two characters is," is what the book is telling us how these characters really feel?". In other words is Guitars reason for being in the 7 days really what he says it is? While Meursault's story is told from his perspective and seems to be credible, Guitars is not, and this makes me question if the reasoning he gives Milkman is really what incentivizes him to be part of the 7 days. additionally, there are multiple fallacies in his logic of doing what he does while having the morals that he does. For instance, he himself is not having children, which in turn eliminates possible future generations. This among other reasons makes me wonder if his true motives stem from something like his fathers death, or other unrevealed past experiences. Honestly I would really enjoy a novel through Guitars perspective, and it might give us some insight to whether he really cares about the ratio of black people to white people, or has other reasons for his affiliation with the 7 days.
ReplyDeleteWhen we think about something like comparing Meursault to Guitar, I would actually make the argument that they are very similar in one particular aspect. When we look at Meursault, he is accused and portrayed as an intrinsic "threat to society" and the 'way things are'. I think that Guitar also has an air of a societal threat, at least when he is with Milkman. Meursault indicated that what he did was not out of intention, but we still have to live with the fact that he fired the gun numerous times. While Guitar seems to have a deep-seated resentment of white people, he does indicate that he does these things not because he wants to, but because something is forcing him to do it. I mean I might be extrapolating a bit too much but I think that despite the numerous and obvious differences, there are some aspects that bind them together.
ReplyDeleteYour point about Guitar being the greater evil compared to Mersault is one I really agree with. Guitar's tendency to kill intentionally and frequently makes him the worse of the two for me. Not only this, but Guitar's killings are much more violent and usually involve killing more than one person. On the other hand, Mersault killing are unpredictable, unintentional and as far as we know, he has only killed once. This is a stark contrast to Guitar who has well grounded motives for justice but he has killed before (possibly multiple timesalready) and is likely to senselessly kill again to achieve what he wants. Overall, I definitely agree that Mersault is the lesser of the two evils.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, I think that even if Guitar has a reason for killing someone he is more evil. Mersault wasn't planning on killing anyone and doesn't want to kill more but Guitar is gonna keep on killing due to his ratios and love thinking. I think that Mersault is also dangerous because he has no reason and was upset by the sun and killed someone but it could happen again without being planned even though Guitars are planned every Sunday. I think that the race difference is big because Mersault could of gotten out of his trial if he had changed his narrative but didn't and if Guitar went to court it would be over for him and he would not get out. I agree that murder is murder and that they can both relate because they have killed someone. I think both of them are in the wrong and think both could murder again (Guitare for sure and Mersualt possibly if the conditions were with the sun again). Great post!
ReplyDeleteI think this is a really interesting take using the books we've read this semester. I like how you took two characters on the opposite sides of the spectrum and picked them both apart. I had never considered the parallels of (well I guess un-similarities) between these two characters before. But I also likes how you dove into their motives for killing and how guitar has one but Mersault doesn't. While to us Mersault would seem like the scarier person because he has not motives, Guitar would have more blood on his hands. So I like that you are able to ask the question who's more evil?
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I agree with your point on how dangerous Guitar is to society as he will keep killing. Where as Meursault only kills that one time, even if there is nothing stopping him from doing it again. Guitar and Meursault are both threats to society in this way. I also like your point on how Meursault and Guitar are in opposite positions in society. Meursault is a member of the oppressors while Guitar is the oppressed.
ReplyDeleteMeursault and Guitar are definitely different people but also incredibly similar. They both committed murder but with different intentions. Guitar kills out of a sense of duty, because he wants vengeance. Meursault seemed to have killed out of pure accident. The two characters have different outlooks on life, where Guitar thinks he is doing the right thing and Meursault isn't thinking anything. A very interesting comparison you have here. Great post!
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