A Brief History of Seven Killings

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of antigay bias and death.

Gang leaders in the novel often ask themselves what kind of legacy they will leave behind. This question is implicit for younger leaders, like Josey and later Eubie, who enact covert plans to undermine their predecessors and consolidate power. Legacy is a more explicit concern of older gang dons like Papa-Lo and Shotta Sherrif. However, all reigns are founded on violence that cannot be erased; the novel argues that the cycle of violence prevents anyone who comes to power from securing a lasting achievement that can be remembered after they’re gone.

Papa-Lo is characterized by his desire for peace, but this is because we meet him in middle age; we also learn that he never longed for peace in his youth. As he gets older, he becomes tired of the violence he has been responsible for as don of Copenhagen City, and fears that because of the chaos he’s caused, he won’t have a peaceful death. His efforts in Parts 1 through 3 of the novel revolve around his attempts to secure peace between Copenhagen City and the Eight Lanes.

Complicating Papa-Lo’s quest for peace is the ambition of his head enforcer,

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