“It scared him to think that murder and suicide might be just another vain dream, an ideal hope that, once it was accomplished, would turn out to be just like New Orleans, just like everything else in this life, nowhere near what it was cracked up to be, and only another way of feeling bad about himself” (109).
I found the 5th chapter to be incredibly engaging. The stream of Solon Gregg’s thoughts about murdering himself and his family was given in such a hopeful way, giving a disturbing look into the way people like Solon Gregg can think. In this particular quote, he seems to have a moment of clarity, reflecting on his past decisions that have brought him only pain and misery. I semi thought that after this he would decide to turn from his ways, but of course that won’t happen (at least yet). He then quickly pushes aside this thought when, according to Solon, God miraculously gives him the perfect opportunity to go through with his murder suicide, saying, “In Jesus all things were possible, if you only believed” (125). The way he rationalized his actions, despite having at least a small amount of wisdom displayed in this quote (the first one), was terrifying to say the least. Besides saying he is psychopathic, why would he move so quickly from his point of clarity to intentions of murdering Bobo, his family, and himself?
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