Responsibility

     A sense of responsibility is seen very clearly in Guitar, who feels responsible to his parents to rectify the injustice they experienced by taking every injustice committed against a black person as a strike against him. His involvement with the Seven Days stems from his responsibility to his people. Milkman is scared by the intensity of Guitar's devotion, and Guitar is scared by Milkman's complete lack of identity as a black man. In fact, in the first section of the book, Milkman has no discernible sense of responsibility to anything or anyone. His only loyalty is to himself and his desire to obtain material objects for his own pleasure. The first time there is a breakthrough with Milkman occurs in Danville, where his eyes are opened to a world much bigger than him. He finds a culture in which he belongs, not because of his fancy clothes or  socioeconomic status, but because of his ancestry. He finally begins to feel responsible for his family, owning his race and his heritage. Had he not felt so bound by the legacy of his grandfather to avenge his wrongful death, he would not have been able to push himself through the mud and rocks to discover the cave. The Milkman prior to his speaking with the Reverend and Circe would have fled to the safety of his hometown reputation as soon he encountered even a remote challenge. However, the evolved Milkman is motivated by something larger than himself and his desire for the gold. He finally feels the responsibility to his people he had been lacking for all his life, and he thereby gains purpose both for carrying on in his mission to find the gold and purpose for his life in its entirety as he learns to see the people around him as valuable.