I’ve developed the idea of spending life aiming to be better in tune with the infinite, always striving for greater levels of greatness.
Knowing your limits would be something sought out because you won’t suffer from foreseeable failures, but it’s also depressing because it makes life kind of meaningless if you aren’t continuously fighting to better yourself.
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Consider the possibility that they might just die Detroit Leprechaun – Mors
This comes off as a threat from the shark that no one is safe from mayhem like him, but, continuing the duality of the Black Sheep, you can read a feeling of empathy out of this. Give people their flowers while they can still smell ‘em.
Going deeper, “goodbye” is thought by some to be a theoretically pessimistic dismissal, preferring something along the lines of “see you later.” Saying goodbye does not indicate that there will be another meeting. This way, it could be acknowledging the possibility of death.
The shark reveals his ultimate intentions as not materialistic wealth, but a more metaphysical goal: control. Any monetary gain is just meant to keep him alive. Playing on the concept of zugzwang, German for “compulsion to move” mostly used in the context of chess, a shark must continue moving in order to survive. Similarly, the shark must continue acting towards his cause.
This fleshes the character out a bit and indicates a real depth in terms of the motives behind all of his actions.
Taking this as a line of pure aggression, the shark observes weakness in the turtle, an inability to act out his wishes: suicide.
More compassionately, this could be interpreted as the shark attempting to help the turtle. In this line of thinking, he would have committed assisted suicide, usually a role played by a physician. Once again, sentiment cloaked in coldness.
A turtle is a characterization of a person who is reclusive but has not established a sense of individualism yet. It’s a stage that is a precursor to being a Black Sheep, the Black Sheep’s constituents like in this line from “Man of a Moon”
Vibing in the darkness at eleven in fright
Is a greater devotion than roaring in the light
The shark attempts to make his deed of destruction acceptable by claiming that he has done the turtle a favor. The turtle no longer has to worry about all those ideas that haunted him. While this is excusing his behavior, it really is trying to moralize the situation, indicating an underlying sensitivity.
Note the bedtime wordplay of nightmare and bed. You’d get nightmares after going to bed.
This alludes to the theory that violence is institutionally perpetuated, that poverty is a government policy. The themes behind this are class warfare, racism, and oppression. This could be seen as a critique of capitalism.
Having the man, the victim of the gun, crumble indicates minimal hope for resistance. The kids don’t stand a chance.
Taking this line from the shark’s perspective rather than from Mors, this could indicate the man being overly ambitious and paying the price.
Twisted tables is another way of saying “the tables have turned,” an idiom indicating a reversal in plans.
The tool here refers to a handgun. I used this highly ambiguous word because a tool is any device used to accomplish a task.
Ordinarily, a man would use his tools. Here, the tools acts upon a man, meaning a gun is shooting a man. There is an utter lack of personal responsibility for this violence, as if it is simply a natural occurrence in the environment that the shark lives and breathes.
All this establishes the theme of this poem: Homicide
This is entirely based on the economic theory of the zero-sum game, where one must lose in order for another to win. Zero-sum mentality is a simplistic and aggressive perception, befitting of the shark. The economic concept is what many would call busted after the Industrial Revolution.
Pie refers to utility, money in this case. The shark recognizes that death may come to those he works with, those he toils with, those he shares a bond with, but takes this revelation like a sociopath. Stumbling is a really nonchalant way to brush it off and distance himself from any fault. Like a member of a crew pulling off a heist, he uses his zero-sum mentality to believe there’s just more for him to take now.
This directly contrasts the mentality of the Black Sheep and his overwhelming sense of empathy.
