Towards the end of the novel Sag Harbor we see a really great moment for Ben(ji).
He is trying to get into this night club for a concert. Normally, underage people aren't allowed into the club but somehow Benji and his friend get through security and into the concert. This is a turning point for Benji because he becomes immersed in crowd and the music.
This is one of the first times in the novel where we see Benji completely happy and comfortable with himself. He feels this amazing sense of community and acceptance and it's a really good addition to the novel.
This is kind of an important time for Benji, especially in the coming of age process. As Ben reflects on this moment you can tell it was a very defining experience for him. He finally feels accepted as a person in his community, which is what he was striving for a lot in the beginning of the book.
I half expected there to be a huge conflict as he tried to get into the club. Like the bouncer would stop him and he would get in a bunch of trouble or something like that. But he just slides right through security and to me it was somewhat anti-climactic. But I think it adds to the build up of the ending moment in the chapter.
I think we all have experiences like this in our lives and I think the way Whitehead portrays that with Benji was really great and I really enjoyed reading it.
It's interesting that music (specifically Hip Hop) is the context in which we see Ben connect with Benji given that he is putting so much emphasis on the change of HipHop since Benji's time. Maybe there was no intention behind this but this either seems to say that the essence of HipHop hasn't changed, or that what was important to Benji about the concert wasn't actually the music. The fact that he doesn't discuss the performance itself seems to support this second hypothesis (and he doesn't present the performers as musical geniuses as I recall); that Benji is so happy because he is being accepted by some group of people as an adult for one of the first times, not because the actual event is super amazing.
ReplyDeleteOk I also thought that there would be this culminating moment where Benji would be "tested" when going to the night club. I actually had to go back and reread the section just to make sure I didn't miss anything. But I think the fact that it was so easy for Benji kind of just shows that he is growing and maturing into Ben without him being aware of it.
ReplyDelete