Oddly enough this story reminded me more of The Odyssey than any other book we’ve read all year. I’ll attribute this to our main characters of each story. They are both very complicated men in different ways, both leaders of their “ship” who go down in certain ways.
I think I liked both of them about the same as well; they’re undeniably clever and charismatic in a certain way and yet so completely idiotic in others I can’t stand them. Macon is arguably more self-critical than Odysseus but they both have masculine confidence that makes them incredibly self-centered. They both think that they are very wise- Odysseus thinks he is a talented trickster and captain and Macon thinks that he is enlightened to black culture. They both use these talents in order to gain a “crew”, Odysseus’ being literal and Macons being “The Franchise.” Eventually, both groups turn against Odysseus and Macon and things unintentionally result in death and destruction. Odysseus is part of the death of his whole crew and things get out of hand and violent at Macon’s Day of Apology. As well if we wanted to draw parallels between the slaughter in the hall and the day of apology that would be very interesting. Both seemingly “revenge” story’s with questionable moral politics and lots of bloodshed.
Odysseus and Macon even seem to both have a problem with women. Odysseus is unfaithful to his wife and shows the gender ideals at the time while Macon fails to acknowledge intersectional ideas or treat women with equal respect and attention in how he treats Logan, for example. They both have ideologies and worldviews that may seem a bit extreme. For example, Macon doesn’t see a moral issue with robbing people at gunpoint where Odysseus brags about being a “sacker of cities”. They center their identities about taking in a violent way.
I think both are such complicated men that watching them go on a “hero's journey” made me feel similar ways, sometimes incredibly uncomfortable and sometimes just in awe. They both center around pretty epic and ridiculous stories and center around two men trying to make a change and prove something--whether it’s getting home or righting racial injustice.
Are there any other ways you can think of that Macon and Odysseus are similar or different? How do you see them? Did you get the same feeling from both of them or do you see them as incomparable?
I agree that Macon and Odysseus are possibly the most aligned characters from this whole course (though, Everett?). I think that their flaws are close (selfish recklessness, sexism, poor leadership), and I think they both have that splendor thing going on. I think the core difference is that Macon is wearing someone else's splendor, and when it's taken away, he can't survive.
ReplyDeleteIn many ways, Macon seems to be something of a classic tragic hero. Odysseus may not be too tragic, but he's a hero for sure, and I agree that Macon also seems to have many heroic characteristics. The comparison between their crews really interests me as well, as it's a comparison I hadn't thought of previously. Also I don't think hating women is a Macon/Ody thing, I think it's a man thing.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about the similarities between Odysseus and Macon, as one was a grand, Greek war hero with a sword and the other was just a teenage white boy in New York who liked hip hop and black culture. However, after reading this I totally see it now: their personalities and character flaws are really similar (as if we needed another sexist, egotistic character to hate on lmao).
ReplyDeleteSince their goals and setting are so different, I would not have considered the similarities between Macon and Odysseus, however all the points you make are really good. The arrogance that Macon and Odysseus both carry was the one thing that I remember bothering me a lot about both of those characters. However, I'm really interested in the comparison you draw between the way that they try to recruit people to their cause. They both use their personality traits, of being charismatic enough to draw people into their message. Yet, like you point out, these groups eventually lead to their downfall. I suppose the only major difference would be that Odysseus gets his "happy ending".
ReplyDeleteWhat am interesting post. I didn’t really think about the connection between the two as I was reading, but now that you point out all these things, it makes a lot of sense. You mentioned both of them being captains of ships, and Macon does refer to himself as a captain of a ship once, but it’s pretty metaphorical. He does though, drive a slightly more literal ship in the form of his taxi. He uses it to ride from location to location, “battling” different “enemies” at each new spot.
ReplyDeleteNice post. I agree, they seem like similar characters in many ways. They are certainly both "complicated men". I think the gender thing is interesting because I think Macon's problematic behaviors when it comes to gender are more called out by the novel than they are in the Odyssey. While the main character's sexism isn't really called out in either novel, I think it's affirmed by the Odyssey and criticized by ABWB. It seems to add to Macon's faults, which are at the end of the novel condemned, while it sort of makes Odysseus just a run of the mill guy in the Odyssey (there's no Agaememnon equivalent in ABWB to affirm sexism). Nice post.
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