Jennifer Egan’s novel, A Visit from the Goon Squad, includes thirteen separate short stories that are intertwined in non-chronological order into one exceptional narrative. A Visit from the Goon Squad takes place over a span of five decades, beginning with the punk scene of the 1970s and ending in the ominous future. Egan writes with a form that manipulates time to her advantage, allowing her to show the complex relationships between characters. Time can be seen as a “goon” in the novel that reminds the reader that life advances, times change, and of the mortality that everyone will eventually face. The novel’s theme is centered around the progression of time, memories, music, and redemption. Through the chapters, “Found Objects,” “The Gold Cure,” “You (Plural),” and “Pure Language,” the reader can see how Egan organized the novel around the connections between characters and how the progression of time affects each of the characters. Each separate story functions as a medium to show the interconnectedness of society and to display the novel’s overall theme (Pols). …show more content…
A Visit from the Goon Squad is arranged in an interesting way that may appear to be haphazard, but is actually very logical.
Time skips from the 1970s, to the future, and to the present, and the reader is forced to compile pieces from each story into one overall story. In the very first chapter of the novel, “Found Objects,” Sasha is introduced. During this chapter, Sasha’s boss, Bennie, is mentioned which serves as the bridge into the next chapter in the novel. This is just one of the many examples of how the entire novel is structured and organized. Egan uses this form of transition from character to character to further show how each character is connected. In novels written in chronological order, the plot is the main focus of the novel while in this novel the characters are the central focus of the novel. Since the novel is arranged this way, the effect of the passage of time is seen on each
character. The characters in the novel change significantly over the course of the novel, and these changes are seen as even more profound because of the way the novel is organized. For example, Sasha is introduced as an adult who is struggling with kleptomania. The next time Sasha appears as a teenager, and the experiences of her adolescent years seem to have affected her current adulthood. Towards the end of the novel, Sasha has changed again into an admirable mother. The way the character of Sasha is devolved over the course of the novel is significant because it makes her the changes she undergoes more drastic. Time is a dominant factor in the characters’ lives which affects their decisions and experiences. In “The Gold Cure,” the reader is first introduced to the character of Bennie. Bennie is characterized as an aging man around fifty who is dealing with infertility and the issue of his child, Chris, who he seldom spends time with. Bennie is also facing frustration and disappointment regarding his role in the music business. Desperate and confused, Bennie thinks the solution to his problems lies in putting gold flakes in his coffee like the Aztecs. Longing for his youth, Bennie attempts to remember the music from old times that defined his teenage years. The following quote from A Visit from the Goon Squad helps explain what Bennie was feeling, “The deep thrill of these old songs lay, for Bennie, in the rapturous surges of sixteen-year-old-ness which they induced” (Egan 23). One of the central problems Bennie faces is trying to recreate his memories and live in the past. In the chapter “Pure Language,” Bennie has aged and is now sixty years old. Despite being fired from his record label, Bennie has gotten another job in the music business. Bennie no longer tries to recreate music from the past, rather he makes an effort to adapt to the changing times. This change is monumental for Bennie, because he has finally left the past behind and moved forward. The personification of time is a fundamental aspect in A Visit from the Goon Squad that is central to the deeper understanding of the novel. Time is personified as a goon, and “the goon of time” is more important than the other characters in the novel. The connotation of the word “goon” instantly makes the reader thinks of time. Bosco has transformed from music star to a a gone from a rock star to an ailing, withering, old man. Scotty has transformed from a likable and vibrant youth to a psychologically troubled man. Jocelyn has transformed from an enthusiastic child to a miserable and petty adult. From the following examples, the reader can see that “the goon of time” has not treated these characters well. The changes throughout these characters lives appear more significant because of the personification of time. The “You (Plural)” chapter offers insight into the life of Jocelyn and the reader can see the dramatic effect that time has on her life as well as on the lives of other characters. Jocelyn is a character who is trying to overcome her drug problem. Jocelyn’s life takes a symbolic turn because of Lou. Lou is the turning point in Jocelyn’s life that helps her begin her new life. Jocelyn makes the following statement about Lou, “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me and We’ll see the whole goddamn world…” (Egan 90). The preceding statement shows how profound Lou’s presence in Jocelyn’s life is and how valuable he is to Jocelyn. As the chapter progresses, Jocelyn faces her past and mistakes which gives the reader hope that Jocelyn’s future will not be similar to her past. Every human being faces a “goon squad” in their lives, and humans are forced to learn to cope with the fact that time continues to pass and stops for no one. Through the distinct placement of chapters and characters, Jennifer Egan controls time which connects the short stories in unique ways. The irregular structure of the novel with leaps between different years and characters allows the reader to see only see snapshots of characters' experiences. The goon of time’s presence is even more significant because the short stories are arranged in this way. Time is personified to help the reader appreciate and relate such a complex topic to their own lives. The presence of time is not a depressing and morbid reminder that death is inevitable, rather it is seen as trusting and confident reminder of the goon in everyone’s lives.
There are 23 short stories that all together make up the compilation of Ida Finks book “A Scrap of Time and Other Stories”. All very different and unique in their own way, all tell or reveal different hidden secrets to the reader, but the first story is the most important. For in the first chapter of Finks book A Scrap of Time she reveals to the reader a hidden secret that they should carry with them in the back of their minds as they continue to journey through the pages of her book; the significance of time. For in this first story we see the importance of time to Fink. Not only does she spend the whole first page just primarily talking about time, but she also makes a distinction between two types of time. The first type is a time that
In the last chapter titled “The Stay Together Gang”, J.T. becomes promoted to the highest ranks of the Black Kings which he then invites Venkatesh to tag along to these high-level meetings. At this point, Robert Taylor is being threatened to be demolished and this would make Black Kings and tenants anxious because everyone would have to relocate. Also, in 1996, Venkatesh would be offered a fellowship position at Harvard, soon making him need to leave Chicago.
Slaughterhouse-Five is a story of Billy Pilgrim 's capture by the Nazi Germans during the last years of World War II. Throughout the narrative, excerpts of Billy’s life are portrayed from his pre-war self to his post-war insanity. Billy is able to move both forward and backwards through his life in a random cycle of events. Living the dull life of a 1950s optometrist in Ilium, New York, he is the lover of a provocative woman on the planet Tralfamadore, and simultaneously an American prisoner of war in Nazi Germany. While I agree with Christopher Lehmann-Haupt that Slaughterhouse-Five effectively combines fact and fiction, I argue that the book is more centralized around coping.
Time: How does the way the writer moves between the past and present and future affect the structure of the book? How might this technique inform my approach?
Furious, Zeena demands a more efficient “hired girl” to complete the tasks around the house, meaning that Mattie must leave.... ... middle of paper ... ... Deep irony and tragedy appear numerously throughout the novel. At the beginning of the novel, the narrator learns that the “smash-up” happened “twenty-four years ago from next February”
The journey trope functions in A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan and By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolaño to reveal how time becomes the underlining antagonist that continuously torments the characters throughout their lives. Time – as represented in these two novels – has its own palpable energy that takes on the metaphysical embodiment of the ‘goon’ and the ‘wizened youth’. Both these characters take the members of their respective novels on a journey of realisation, regret, and remorse and introduces the readers to the concept that time is the only truth and it is not always kind. In A Visit from
This independent reading assignment is dedicated to Slaughterhouse-Five, written by Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut experienced many hardships during and as a result of his time in the military, including World War II, which he portrays through the protagonist of Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy Pilgrim. Slaughterhouse-Five, however, not only introduces these military experiences and the internal conflicts that follow, but also alters the chronological sequence in which they occur. Billy is an optometry student that gets drafted into the military and sent to Luxembourg to fight in the Battle of Bulge against Germany. Though he remains unscathed, he is now mentally unstable and becomes “unstuck in time” (Vonnegut 30). This means that he is able to perceive
These are not the only objects of importance the narrator stores in his beloved briefcase, but they are the most encompassing of his story. In the novel’s final chapter, when the narrator is trapped in the dark sewer and must burn the papers from his briefcase to see his way, everything goes. First his high school diploma, then the Sambo doll, followed by a threatening anonymous note. Everything he burns from the briefcase—the “important papers” the superintendent spoke of in Chapter one—is a symbol of the narrator’s plight as the forces pulling his strings run him around.
Dagoberto Gilb was born in Los Angeles in 1950. A mix of gritty humor, mundane terror, and economic misfortune distinguishes his short stories. His life has been neither easy nor subdued, and these influences are reflected in his writing style and choice of subject matter. The short story entitled “Love in L.A.,” by Dagoberto Gilb, shows how one can see many reasons in seeing irony and even satire by the story’s title and how all is stories combine in someway.
Story Time, by Edward Bloor, Harcourt: United States of America, 2001. 424 pages. Reviewed by Mar Vincent Agbay
The book order is chronologically in reverse; this is significant because as the reader one learns about his first experience with death in the last chapter of the book, "The Lives of the Dead". In this chapter, O’Brien illustrates the genuine love he felt for a girl named Linda. After his first official date with her, O’Brien clarifies to the reader that Linda was sick and eventually the reader learns that she has died from complications from a brain tumor. O’Brien portrays the feelings that he has as a fourth grader and the thoughts of death that he experiences. O’Brien expresses the feeling of disbelief, "It didn’t seem real. A mistake, I thought. The girl lying in the white casket wasn’t Linda. For a second I wondered if someone had made a terrible blunder" (241). O’Brien’s coping mechanism was to dream; he uses his memories to create dreams of real life situations that he and Linda could have easily been involved in. O’Brien uses situations like ice skating to make up elaborate stories to keep her memory alive (244). O’Brien as a child seems remote and solitary, so his mother asks “‘Timmy what wrong?’” and he replies, “‘Nothing I just need to sleep, that’s all’” (244). He understands she is dead but these intricate stories stuck with him, even through the war.
People often use the expressions “a New York minute”, “time flies” and “wasting time” to describe the passage of time; however, these idioms indicate time is something that can be controlled, altered, or differentiated. Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From the Goon Squad presents time exactly how it is: relative. Egan breaks away from the structurally conventional form of traditional novels and presents time as a “goon”, a foolish entity that controls every character in this story and hinders them from becoming successful individuals. This “goon” leaves no one unscathed; everyone faces the wrath of time and all that comes with it. Egan uses music, as well as the non-linear structure of the book,
Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.” Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Eds. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 3rd ed. New York: Pearson, 2010. 261-263. Print.
Short stories are temporary portals to another world; there is a plethora of knowledge to learn from the scenario, and lies on top of that knowledge are simple morals. Langston Hughes writes in “Thank You Ma’m” the timeline of a single night in a slum neighborhood of an anonymous city. This “timeline” tells of the unfolding generosities that begin when a teenage boy fails an attempted robbery of Mrs. Jones. An annoyed bachelor on a British train listens to three children their aunt converse rather obnoxiously in Saki’s tale, “The Storyteller”. After a failed story attempt, the bachelor tries his hand at storytelling and gives a wonderfully satisfying, inappropriate story. These stories are laden with humor, but have, like all other stories, an underlying theme. Both themes of these stories are “implied,” and provide an excellent stage to compare and contrast a story on.
Since Ma’s kidnapping, seven years prior, she has survived in the shed of her capturer’s backyard. This novel contains literary elements that are not only crucial to the story, but give significance as well. The point-of-view brings a powerful perspective for the audience, while the setting and atmosphere not only affect the characters but evokes emotion and gives the reader a mental picture of their lives, and the impacting theme along-side conflict, both internal and external, are shown throughout the novel. The author chooses to write the novel through the eyes of the main character and narrator, Jack. Jack’s perception of the world is confined to an eleven foot square room.