Sag Harbor: "anti-bildungsroman"

 One of the key themes I've noticed in Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead is the stark difference from traditional or classic coming of age novels. The way the plot or story summary of Benji’s maturing and course of coming of age is really “anti-bildungsroman” in a way, as in the shift from Benji’s childhood to adulthood identity isn’t as dramatic as we usually see in other novels. Benji’s progress altogether is pretty resistant to the concept that coming of age is formed and produced through extraordinary change to one’s life, and even if he only wants a fine attunement of change, Benji still displays a new outlook for his future. 

Benji is introduced initially as insecure, passive and invisible, however, he wants to transform his personality over the summer before heading back to school, which is very relatable to most people who change to become more self-confident and pleased with themselves in all. Being 15, self-improvement and change is a vital part of transition to Benji and he looks up to his older sister who he views as cool, assertive and popular, and he wishes to implement these characteristics into his own personality. When growing up as young teenagers, most of us today also envision to change in this way like Benji. 


One goal Benji sets is to be known as “Ben” by the end of the summer and marking the next school year, which is simple however, he believes it will truly help him become more confident in himself and “cooler” overall. I find that since the main plot of the story is pieced together as a slice of life in a way, describing what days are like at Sag Harbor when Benji and his brother Reggie go to visit, there leaves a lot of room to explore what kind of tensions or lessons Benji might experience; such as his abusive, drinking father, which he has grown anxious towards his behavior. In another case, Benji observes Barry Davis at the final event of his summer, the Labor Day party, who seemingly has no control over his behavior and escalates to him throwing furniture into the bonfire. Benji and Reggie then leave the party in hopes not to get into trouble as well. I find that even though several negative experiences impact Benji, he still looks on the bright side and dreams of a more optimistic future when summer’s over, returning to school.


Because of the small change in Benji’s attitude towards thinking positively about life, his “coming of age” is definitely more relatable to many adolescents like ourselves, since a change of attitude goes a long way and comes out of maturity. I feel like not too commonly will we find teens who go through crazy or extreme changes over a period of time (for example summer break). I feel like Benji’s growing up follows the most realistic path most teens go through nowadays.


Comments

  1. MitchellMay 27, 2021 at 9:46 AM

    I love Ben the narrator's rendering of Benji trying to talk himself into the idea that the summer has indeed represented some important growth and development for him: "some stuff happened." It's true that this novel depicts coming-of-age as a much more gradual and ambiguous process, where time passes and changes happen, but the changes aren't all that dramatic, and we don't necessarily have a lot of control over them. We can't execute a "plan" for self-reinvention, perhaps, but some "stuff will happen," and it will change us, and we will continue to grow older and our behavior and thoughts will change accordingly. Next school year likely won't be a "great year," and Benji optimistically thinks at the end of the summer, but he does have a few good ideas (combat boots!), and he does eventually become "Ben," so we can't help but see him as making incremental movements in that larger coming-of-age direction.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ilana C.May 28, 2021 at 8:44 AM

    I completely agree! Benji’s narrative during the time period of Sag Harbor, plot-wise, really does not introduce any dramatic changes at all, which I too think makes it a way more relatable story for many teens. Like you discuss, it’s really the little things and the small changes in his outlook towards life that sort of “plant the seeds” for who he will grow up to become. Instead of “reinventing” his life, he simply continues acting true to himself and going along on his path optimistically, without forcing any “unnatural” changes to his life and lifestyle. Even if he thinks that becoming a “new” version of himself may help in school socially, I think that because he isn’t necessarily able to achieve this but just grows and matures in his own way, it sets him up on a better path in the long run. He can remain true to who he really is, and although he dreams about plans for change, I really like that the arc of the story is so relatable and that it doesn’t feel like he’s dramatically altering himself just for the world around him. Being himself is awesome, and even though he expressed doubts about this near the beginning of the novel, I think that it will truly help him come-of-age in the best and healthiest possible way in the end. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Main Motifs in Black Swan Green

  Throughout the novel, Jason Taylor has always seemed to push himself to be the person he’s not, however, his coming of age highlights the fact that you can only really be yourself. For the majority of the novel, the reader follows Jason’s narrative, learning about the established social hierarchy at school through names. In fact, a main motif of the book is the emphasis on distinction of kids through their names, which serve as their place in the social world of school. These are distinguished through students using either first names, middle names, last names or insults towards each other to serve the purpose of separating them on a social level. For example, Moran is called Moron for no reason other than the fact that the spelling is similar. Jason applies this name rule to himself in many ways as well: Hangman, which is indicative of his stammer, Maggot when he feels down and useless, Unborn Twin who is an imaginary perception/sidekick of Jason’s essentially and Eliot Bolivar,...
Read more

A Different Theme in Coming of Age

       Through the time we spent reading the novel, “The Catcher in the Rye”, I noticed some key themes that make this book a coming of age novel through a different perspective than what we’re used to seeing in coming of age. The main theme we can probably see a lot with Holden and his attitude towards everything he faces in life, his distaste for almost everything around him, is really just his way of isolating himself from the rest of society. It’s almost like alienating himself out of fear, his way of brushing everything off and blocking out everything he deems as “phony” is really a way of protecting himself from the fear of becoming phony in the first place. One thing he says to Mr. Spencer that signifies this is that he feels like he is on the “wrong side in the game of life”, as a sense of not belonging anywhere and is too scared to grow up and essentially find his way in a world where he doesn’t even belong in. I strongly believe that Holden has bottled up e...
Read more

The Giver - Essraa A

     On the topic of "coming of age novels", one that pops into a lot of people's minds is The Giver , a widely known novel to many students. The plot features 12 year old Jonas confronting the antagonizing force of his dystopian society, and ultimately coming of age through breaking through the controls and limits set by others on his life and everyone else's in society.       The novel takes place with Jonas, the protagonist of the story, living in this futuristic society with his parents, who have been assigned roles in society, and his 7 year old sister, Lily. An important part of the novel’s progression comes from the upcoming “Ceremony of Twelve”, where once any member of society hits the age of twelve, they are given a new role and expected to follow through with it as a member of society. The most important and highest role of honor, “Receiver of Memories” has been given to Jonas, as he’s noticeably unique from the rest of the people aroun...
Read more