Posts

Adolescence and Teenage Life in Sag Harbor

Throughout Sag Harbor , we see Benji and the rest of his friends try to make new friends and fit into different social groups, whether that be by joking around with each other or just generally trying to be more mature. In general, it seems that these teenagers possess a lot of insecurity surrounding their social status and relationships. This is reflected in the way that they put each other down and make fun of each other casually. This also seems to be apparent in real life relationships, but I'd like to think it's not because all teenagers are super insecure about themselves.  Although their friend group has this kind of dynamic, the insults that fly around are meant to keep them in check. It may attack their coolness, personality, and "vibe", but it serves as an objective outside perspective. At the same time, these insults also seem to be a way of putting someone down so that someone else can be artificially elevated in popularity, social status, et
Post a Comment
Read more

Jason Being True to Himself

For most of the book, Jason continually tries to conceal his identity by pretending to be cool, mixing in with the "tribe of hairy barbarians", afraid of what they'll do to him if they find out who he actually is. Some of his secrets include going to the movies with his mom, his stammer, and probably most importantly, his poetry. While hiding his real self may work temporarily, his secrets eventually spill out and cause massive trouble for him (as in the case with the stammer). Weirdly, when Jason is true to himself and sticks up for himself, fighting off bullies and embracing his faults, he gains respect for his actions and falls on the social ladder how he should. For example, Holly likes how he sticks up for himself and from this, he gets his first kiss.  Jason's identity is generally split between two people: his poet-self Elliot Bolivar and the popularity seeking Jason Taylor. Unfortunately, both these identities can't really exist simultaneously without taki
6 comments
Read more

Fiction and Reality - Fun Home

The Bechdel family from Fun Home is built on a framework of lies and secrets, each family member embodying their own compelling fiction that takes over their life. The title of the book itself is a fictional and ironic wordplay of the Bechdel family’s reality. With her father's "curatorial onslaught" and his bursts of rage, Alison's home in Fun Home is anything but fun. These rages often seem to stem from his difficulties with his architectural pursuits in which he's "indifferent to the human costs of his projects", hitting his kids and growing enraged over the simplest mistakes. In this way, Alison describes him as the half-man, half-bull minotaur. From Alison’s perspective, the minotaur, represented through Bruce's monstrous side, could be waiting around any corner. This side of Bruce is a result of his own fiction as a Victorian era aristocrat, decorating and fancifying the house in order to project himself as this extravagant version of himself
3 comments
Read more

Esther's Identity

Esther often feels like a "racehorse with no more races". She's been raised to succeed in school and tests but as she moves to adulthood, she struggles to find where she can fit in. In the first few chapters, she reaches the end of her racehorse era and is forced to discover a new identity. At one point, she even catches herself in the mirror, unable to recognize herself in New York City. In fact, it almost seems like NYC is the problem. The city seems to have corrupted her while she's experimenting with new identities. She feels so dirty with NYC, she even takes baths that make her feel as if she's "growing pure". Even after her leave of the city, her possible futures trap her (so much so, that death seems to be the only option).  I think one of the best symbols for these futures is the fig tree, a representation of her life and her possible choices. On p. 73, she says: "I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just
3 comments
Read more

The Ducks and Holden Caulfield

Holden first thinks about the ducks while talking to Mr. Spencer about flunking his class. Ignoring Spencer's advice and thoughts about the future, he wonders where the ducks by the lagoon go during the winter. Does someone come and take them away? Or maybe they fly off by themselves? Holden's ultimately unsure about what they do to accommodate for the harsh winter months. In the same way, Holden's uncertain about his own future prospects and how he will survive the transition to adulthood. This question of where the ducks go symbolizes Holden's own unwillingness to let go of his childhood. Whether he likes it or not, adulthood will come for him eventually, just as winter will arrive for the ducks. He can't sidestep it or avoid it forever, yet he still tries to hold onto his moments of purity and innocence. Constantly dwelling on these ducks and even asking cab drivers about it, Holden may actually believe that understanding where the ducks went will solve his own p
4 comments
Read more