Generational Visits from The Goon Squad

A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan plays out to be a visit not from particular people, but more from several generations at once. Within her novel, the reader gets to see different characters in different areas of their lives. Never once does the reader get the same narrative perspective from the same character, each one tells a different story from different times in their lives. Where the connection comes into play isn’t with a chronological order but rather how different lives are touched by different people. These people’s stories come and go at different times, we see different characters at different moments in their lives, and Egan does a great job of giving the reader a way to reflect on their own lives.

One of the characters that comes into play, and seems to be the centerfold of this narrative is Bennie Salazar. Bennie’s life is seen from different moments in time and he tends to tether all of the characters back to him in some way, shape, or form, no matter where the narrative may be at. Take for example the story of Lou. When we finally get to a point in time with just Lou, a safari in Africa, there are still tethers back to Bennie. Lou is introduced to the novel through his young girlfriend Jocelyn. Jocelyn is connected to Bennie as one of the punk rock kids of the 70’s and 80’s. The novel works as a web, with the center of it being Bennie’s life. No matter where a character is at in their storyline, in some way or form they have a connection to Bennie.

With this idea in mind, the phrase “time's a goon” could be a direct reference to Bennie himself, after all, if the reader sees the original group of friends connected to Bennie in the beginning as the “Goon Squad” referenced in the title, then it’s Bennie’s squad that it is referring to. Again, Bennie seems to be around, even if it’s just in spirit, for every narrative. When Lou’s story is told of his time on safari in Africa, the reader knows the age and what’s going on with Bennie. In an earlier chapter, the reader gets a view into Lou’s apartment. In there, the girl’s see a photo from the safari and given a time when it takes place. From there, the reader can figure out just when and where the rest of the crew is at. The same goes for other characters moving through the novel. When looking at Dolly’s story, she references when things went downhill for her, in particular her party. She gives a specific time and date, and also makes references to where the actress Kitty is at in her life. Both these instances have a direct tie back to Bennie. Bennie’s wife use to work for Dolly and his brother-in-law was the one that sexually assaulted Kitty. Both these instances in time allow for the reader to figure out where in time Bennie is again. Even if it wasn’t meant intentionally, Bennie is the central figure of the novel, the clock that the reader can use to put time in a chronological order for themselves.

Within this novel as well, Egan allows for the reader to see several generations at once and even makes a prediction of what is to come of future generations. We see the punk rock era and how young kids acted during the time. As the novel periodically moves forward, the reader gets glimpses of other generations. The character of Sasha, Drew, and Rob all show what the generation after them was like. They’re the younger group that follows after Bennie and his squad. By having them going through time in their important areas, Egan allows for the reader to see the effects of the older generation on the young. Again this is apparent with the character of LuLu. With her generation, and an eventual prediction of another baby boom in the future, things once again have changed. Unlike Bennie and his group, who were all about music, drugs, and hard living, LuLu’s group has significantly changed. This group, commentated on by Alex, doesn’t swear. They group up with the futuristic technology affecting their lives and have learned to live with it. In every sense, their generation has rejected the style of living that was seen by them growing up. Finally, we also get a look at the generation to come through Alex’s daughter Cara-Ann. With her generation, and many young other kids, growing up in a technology filled world, they seem to have the most control over what is popular and what happens. The tablets everyone carries is often used by children. They help influence what music is bought, what shows up on screen, and even the type of language that is going to be used in the future. Egan seems to even hint at the dumbing down of society based on way messaging works on these systems.

One other time related theme that was noticed is how the destruction of the past leads to a destruction of the future. In the beginning and through most of the novel, it feels as though destructive life tendencies play a major role not only on characters but the world itself. There seems to be a blatant disregard for the planet and people that would be considered “good” or “bad”. Take for example the story that Dolly is a part of. For her, she has lost everything is on the edge of being broke. Due to this, she takes a public relations job trying to make a dictator running a genocide to look good in public light. Despite the fact that she knows this is the wrong thing to do, it isn’t until Kitty is taken captive by the general that she finally decides it’s the wrong course of action. Again the commentary can be seen in Scotty’s chapter, when he is fishing in the river. He talks about how bad it’s polluted but doesn’t care. He goes and fishes everyday and even eats the fish, saying that the river isn’t as polluted as people believe. The blatant disregard that he has, and the others, leaves a strong comment on our current world. Finally, towards the end of the novel, we see where the world is at in regards to the destruction and pollution taking place. We have Sasha’s daughter talking about the desert she lives in. She goes on a walk with her father and thinks about how the golf courses were now all dried up and how lawns were gone. In their place is plenty of solar panels, be she notes, quite cleverly, that they really don’t make a difference and things are too far gone. Again we see this commentary with Alex. He makes subtle hints at the destruction of the world. How him and his family, among many others, go to a wall to peer at the sunset before it disappears. He also talks about how it’s winter in New York and the concert Scotty is playing is outdoors. He mentions how it’s a beautiful day, eighty-nine degrees, and also how the sun is setting earlier and earlier. Egan uses her play on time to show the damage that past generations have done on the future of other generations.

Time is a Goon

According to the Oxford Dictionaries goon means 1) informal “A silly, foolish, or eccentric person”; 2) North American “A bully or thug, especially one hired to terrorize or do away with opposition.” According to Bennie Salazar, “Time’s a goon” (332). And although in that context, Bennie is referring to the bully/thug definition when he asks Scotty, “You gonna let that goon push you around?” (332), in the novel A Visit from the Goon Squad, it is more the eccentric nature of time that is central to the plot, as well as to the reader’s understanding of the structure of the novel.

To best analyze the novel, one should probably create a series of linear timelines for the characters who are the center of more than one chapter: Bennie, Scotty, Sasha, Rhea, Lulu, and Alex (although the reader wouldn’t know to create one for Alex until the last chapter). Even then the linear timelines would require branches to account for the non-central characters, such as Stephanie, Lou, Dolly, and Jules, so that the timelines would begin to look like family trees without the blood relations or like diagrammed sentences, the diagrammed lives of the goon squad.

(The diagramming of Article 6 of the U. S. Constitution seemed apt in reference to the various illegalities committed by the goon squad, as well as being a particularly multi-layered sentence as I imagine the intersecting timelines of the various characters.)

However, as this novel was assigned over the spring break and my plans included multiple airplane rides, days at the beach, and drives to the ballpark, I chose to push back against the goon of time and just enjoy the nonlinearity of the novel. The only time that I felt bullied was the reference to 2008 being thirty-five years in the future (61) during chapter four, “Safari,” about Lou and his children. I was caught off guard because I hadn’t processed that the falling back through time of “Part A” had fallen so far to 1973. It wasn’t until I read that fact that I seriously reflected on the passage of time in the novel; I had been enjoying the eccentricity of the reverse timeline and the changing focus on characters, especially the six-degrees-of-separation aspect to the choice of which character to focus on with each new chapter.

In fact I was more bothered by the lack of a Kevin Bacon character at the center of the novel than I was first by the regression of time in “Part A” and then the bouncing around in time of “Part B.” Having now finished the novel and reflecting on it, I would place Bennie Salazar at the center of the degrees of separation. (And, yes, I just spent an hour trying to create an accurate six degrees of separation for most of the goon squad.)

And yet, I don’t feel that the novel is about Bennie. As much as I wanted the novel to be about Sasha, and she probably has the most chapters about her, as well as the most mentions in other chapters, it is not about Sasha.

The novel is about time, and the passage of time. Ted attributes his wife’s spontaneity and desire to “make sure it’s always like this” to her feeling “the passage of time” (231). The novel serves as a wake up call to every reader; events are happening that you will never be involved in, connections are being made because of or in spite of you, and you will wake up solidified in a place much like Sasha in the opening chapter feeling both “mired in it and lucky to have it” (14). For most of us the jarring moment isn’t like Sasha’s when she “think[s] of herself as a glint in the memories Alex would struggle to organize a year or two from now: Where was that place with the bathtub? Who was that girl?” (14). Our jarring moments are more personal along the lines of “How did I get to this age?” or “When did my children/parents get old?”  

Without being maudlin, you cannot prepare for those jarring moments. And they occur at random times, much like the events and memories in the novel occur in nonlinearity. My sons graduating high school did not jar; over the years, I have taken great pride in those moments that they adult (yes, I used it as a verb). In fact I am relieved when they prove that they can adult. The jarring moment this year with my older son when was he left from winter break, and I realized that he will never really return home again. This house may be his childhood home for the majority of his life, but he will most likely never live here full time ever again. I should be rejoicing that I could transform his bedroom into an office/library, but I have just chosen to close the door and leave it intact, almost shrine-like. I’m not ready to move forward. At least I’m not pilfering items like Sasha, right?

And then I encourage all of you (classmates, professor, any random reader) to spend a significant period of time, including overnights, with your parents as they age. In fact I suggest traveling with them. This spring break my parents traveled with my husband and me to Florida for spring training baseball games. My husband, our sons, and I have made this our routine spring break trip, but my parents, especially my baseball-loving mother, have only accompanied us once on the requisite Disney World trip. Which was thirteen years ago. When my parents were in their early 60s. I’ve noticed changes in their activities over the years; I have been well aware of most of their health issues. And I’ve made mental notes of little changes that no one has bothered to mention. But I usually see them for a few hours in their home or in mine, not in a location 1,021 miles from either of our homes for twenty-four hours per day. I was jarred all week. When had these changes taken place? And how did I not know?

Maybe time is a goon, a bully. It doesn’t terrorize us on a daily basis; rather, it’s the culmination of time that appears out of nowhere. It smacks us in the face to take away our opposition to growing older. And it is at that point that we reflect; we look back at our own good squads to see how we got here. To see if it’s been good or bad, or at least to see when it’s been good and when it’s been bad. But ultimately, we should learn from the novel that it’s more important to find a good squad that you fit in with, that makes you content. We should all be so lucky to end up with second chances like Bennie with Lupa and Ava or like Sasha with Drew and her children far away from New York City. But I hope for everyone reading this that you end up content like Alex with Rebecca and Cara Ann on the first go around. Find your goons and relish them.

Egan, Jennifer. A Visit from the Goon Squad. New York: Anchor Books, 2010. Print.