Solo

At the beginning of the narrative, Blade never questions his identity. Feeling secure in his place within his family, he instead expresses his frustrations with his father and describes himself as “the wretched son / of a poor / rich man” (18), but while his father drives him crazy, Blade never doubts the validity of his relationships. Blade’s memories of his mom are of pure love, and he clings to this love, even when the family secret is revealed. Blade’s description of his dream illustrates how after learning about his adoption, he feels as though his world has tilted and feels “like a thousand puzzle pieces / that just don’t fit / together anymore” (8). Blade feels as though his identity has been ripped away from him: “What is this blood / coursing through my veins? // It’s not Morrison. / It’s a red river / of who the hell am I” (154). The pain is amplified with the assumption that he was given up for adoption due to his biological parents’ lack of love for him. As much as Blade despised Hollywood, he belonged. Now, when he passes the palm trees, he’s struck by their foreign origins and feels akin to the way the trees were transplanted by Spaniards, as he too feels transplanted. As a distraction, Blade pours his emotional energy into his relationship with Chapel, but his devotion blinds him to signs that she is not as emotionally invested in their relationship as he is. When Blade catches Chapel cheating on him, the last thread holding him to Hollywood is broken, confirming that he no longer belongs. These feelings culminate in Blade’s destruction of his guitar and his declaration that he’ll never play music again.

Rutherford also struggles with his identity in the wake of his wife’s untimely death. Rutherford’s music career died with Sunny as he struggles with substance abuse disorder, unable to find a way to cope and exist without her. As he is unable to identify his role within his family in the absence of his wife, he attempts to befriend his son as he overcompensates for feelings of guilt and depression. When Blade rejects Rutherford further, he leans harder into a rock star persona, disgusting his son further, who desires stability and responsibility that does not align with a performer’s lifestyle. In comparison to Blade and Rutherford, Storm is sure of who she is and sees her brother and father for who they are: her family. Storm is skeptical about Blade going to Africa to find Lucy, reminding him that Lucy “threw” him away. Further, Storm reiterates to Blade that he has a family, that “right now you have a father who, despite the / fact you think is a super freak, loves you, and you have an amazing, / talented sister […] You give up on us, you got nothing” (175). In attempting to organize the instability of her father and brother, and their tense relationship, she tries to convince Blade of his identity within their family unit. In doing so, she unintentionally contributes to her brother’s sense of isolation, further propelling his desire to meet Lucy.

In Konko, Blade is thrust into a community where everyone belongs and is accepted, whether they are related by blood or not. Orphans like Sia are raised by the village, and the community works together to ensure that everyone thrives and feels loved. The joyful, tightknit community makes Blade wish he “could belong / to something as simple / and as deep / as community” (273). When he misses arguing with Rutherford, Blade attributes his emotions to lack of sleep rather than the fact that his distance from his family underscores his identity as a Morrison even more, though he’s unable to see it at the time. He misses the family unit he’s rejected and must complete his journey to meet Lucy to learn he was where he belonged all along.

Joy is instrumental in helping Blade see that true happiness and satisfaction are achieved by supporting and helping one’s community and by belonging to something bigger than oneself. Through Joy and Sia, Blade sees the love and the good that has always been in Rutherford. When Blade finds Lucy, his identity and sense of belonging is finally complete. Blade has climbed his “mountain,” as Robert encouraged him to do when he was blinded by confusion and hurt. And as his friend advised, from the top of his personal mountain, Blade discovers the importance of his family, biological and adoptive.