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Warning: SPOILERS for The Accountant and The Accountant 2.
The classic nursery rhyme about Solomon Grundy plays a role in both The Accountant and The Accountant 2, with its various uses in both movies saying a lot about Christian’s character arc across the films. By the time The Accountant 2’s ending rolls around, the rhyme’s use in the movie helps to showcase just how much the titular number cruncher has changed over the course of his eight-year journey. It serves as an excellent reminder just how much a couple of core members in The Accountant 2 cast had to do with that growth.
Although a lot of elements are retained from one film to the next, it’s clear from even a cursory glance at The Accountant 2’s reviews that the sequel has been received much better. There are a number of reasons for this. However, what’s interesting is that the Solomon Grundy nursery rhyme’s reduced importance in The Accountant 2 highlights why the storyline feels more rewarding. Many will likely make it through the sequel without thinking much about the rhyme at all, but considering its importance in the first movie helps underscore why its comparative absence makes Christian’s journey so meaningful.
The Solomon Grundy Nursery Rhyme Is A Coping Mechanism For Christian Wolff
He Often Uses It When Stimming Doesn’t Work
Short for self-stimulatory behaviors, the concept of stimming is explained early on in The Accountant. Just about everybody on Earth stims in one way or another, such as by biting their nails, but the concept of stimming is particularly identified with people on the autism spectrum as a means of avoiding sensory overload. Interestingly, Justine’s recast in The Accountant 2 has a major impact on how stimming is presented in the sequel as compared to the first movie. While she used to stim constantly, she now does it during moments of high sensory or emotional output.
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Christian presents in much the same way. The Accountant explains that his primary form of stimming is rocking back and forth. He also uses outside sensory stimulation such as loud music, flashing lights, and massaging his shins with a wooden stick. But Christian recites the Solomon Grundy rhyme in moments of acute distress when other forms of stimming fail him. As seen in The Accountant’s ending, he also appears to recite it quietly at times when physical stimming might distract him from an important kill. As a child, it eases his meltdowns. As an adult, it prevents them.
Each Time Christian Wolff Repeats The Solomon Grundy Rhyme In The Accountant Movies
It Plays A Much Larger Role In The First Movie
After the long gap between The Accountant and The Accountant 2, some viewers might have forgotten about Solomon Grundy before seeing the sequel. However, it comes up a number of times in the first film. Chris first recites the rhyme as a child when he begins to have a meltdown over losing a puzzle piece while at Harbor Neuroscience, distraught at the concept of not finishing the puzzle. Marybeth later uncovers a recording of him reciting the rhyme as an adult while getting revenge on the gangster who killed his friend Francis.
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Comparing The Accountant to The Accountant 2, the last time Solomon Grundy appears in the first film is similar to the only time it appears in the sequel. In the original, Braxton learns that Chris is his brother because he hears Chris reciting that rhyme whibefore his final kill against Living Robotics’ security. In the sequel, Christian recites the rhyme just before saving child hostage Alberto, whom Chris has long suspected was also on the spectrum. It’s because the sequel only uses this rhyme once that its true meaning in Christian’s adult life can be strongly inferred.
The Full Solomon Grundy Nursery Rhyme & Meaning Explained
Its Simplicity Is Part Of The Major Point
Although he relies on it much less as an adult, Chris clearly still uses the rhyme right before kills, in which people like Francis, Dana, and Alberto will be saved or avenged. Because the sequel ends with Chris in a much better place, it’s unclear if he’ll still need the rhyme to the same extent during future kills or fights of extreme significance. Just as The Accountant 2’s acquired savant syndrome develops a relationship between Anaïs and “Pop Goes the Weasel,” we may again hear Christian recite:
Solomon Grundy
Born on a Monday
Christened on Tuesday
Married on Wednesday
Sick on Thursday
Worse on Friday
Died on Saturday
Buried on Sunday
And that was the end of Solomon Grundy.
There are slight variations on these lines in real life, but Chris repeats them verbatim every time. The one thing that changes is that he only speaks the last line as an adult, while merely repeating the first several lines on a loop during childhood meltdowns. Depending on how high the stakes become in The Accountant 3, this repetition may occur once more. But from The Accountant to The Accountant 2, this simple rhyme used to teach children the days of the week and stages of life appears to have slightly less power over him than it once did.
The Accountant
The Accountant franchise is an action-thriller series revolving around Christian Wolff, an autistic accountant with deadly combat skills, who uncovers financial corruption while confronting his past. The first film, The Accountant (2016), was a box office success, leading to a confirmed sequel set for 2025.
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