"He could do this one job, snuff the nigger, then come cruising back into town in that sweet little El Camino, tool on over to his house, and how would you say it, close down his family life forever, end on a positive note." (124)

I found this moment worth mentioning because of what we talked about, concerning Solon's character, during last class. Solon seems to have an endless barrage of malicious ideas running through his head at all times and he convinces himself that he is a decent person by taking note of the crimes which he does not commit because they are to heinous even for him. In this moment he comes to the conclusion that he and his family should just quit while they aren't too far behind and commit mass suicide or more like let themsleves be murdered so that Solon can forgive himself for their murders by killing himself last. This would somehow justify his crimes and put him at peace with his family and God. Interestingly enough he realizes that his daughter might want to get married instead of ending her life at fifteen and Solon seems to be okay with this. He even decides to give her the blood money he's going to earn as a wedding present. This type of negatively-reinforced rationalization, provides Solon with the motivation to continue doing the horrible things he enjoys doing and in some moments seems proud of. So far, this book seems to be full of characters who are extremely distant from the other characters in the novel. No one in this book seems to really like each other and most of them certainly dont trust one another. If i ever visit this town i might want to carry a concealed handgununder my shirt too.

Question: How does the apparent distance between characters quide the story's action and why does Solon feel the need to convince himself that he really isn't that bad of a criminal?