An Unjust World

            Toni Morrison continues the novel emphasizing on Guitar’s thoughts and ideas. This character provides, up to this point, the most valuable insights on the topics being examined in the book. In a discussion with several other men, Guitar is offended by the idea that just because some people are white they will not go to jail. This is exposed when he states, “They always say that. He could have had a wad of bubble gum, they’d swear it was a hand grenade” (p. 82). This is a strong critic to the United States judicial system, since it is declaring that this branch of the government is very biased and cannot hold an objective case when dealing with people from different ethnic backgrounds. I believe this is one of the main sources of violence in a country, since if people hold a grudge on the system and feel they are always presented as guilty no matter what, they will purposely disobey the laws established by the government.

                In order for a society to function correctly, the majority of its members have to believe that the government that is leading them is working for their benefit, or at least not against it. African Americans constitute a fairly large portion of the United States population and they definitely did not belief that the government was helping them in any sense. Some got to the point, as Guitar did, of stating that all of what the government called “truth” was as a manipulation of the versions of whites in an attempt to condemn the African Americans. This is pointed out when Guitar states, “You stupid, man. Real stupid. Ain’t no law for no colored man except the one that sends him to the chair” (p. 82). There was no rights for African Americans, but there certainly was laws that sent them to jail and even to the death row.