Song of Solomon Entry 6 - Experts

       Toni Morrison's An Excursion in the Black World raises the idea of the two responses to oppression that black people take.  The first kind is that of the militant.  The idea that the only way to combat oppression and violence is through violence and resistance.  This response is embodied by the character Guitar, who in response to the oppression he has faced creates a black nationalist group known as the Seven Days.  This group pledges to kill a white person for every black man killed. On the other hand, the protagonist, Milkman comes from a more black middle class background and does not share the same views as his friend Guitar.  Morrison draws a connection between these characters and Malcom X and MLK in their differing approaches to their predicament.