The Effects of Summertime
In class the other day, as we were talking about Benji quietly sitting in bed at Sag and listening to the sounds of the beach and his surroundings, all of a sudden, I got really nostalgic for summer vacation. During summer, at least for me, life just feels all around different; there are almost no responsibilities, the days pass quickly, and nothing you do is that meaningful in a conventional, productive way. Yet I know for a lot of kids, like me, it’s a way to recharge and recuperate so that you are fresh and ready to put in your best effort the following academic year, but I think there’s sort of a separate side effect of summer that can make it more than just time to veg out. I think a big feature about summer is that all this nothingness forces us to stop and think about things and reflect on who we are. In a way, a lack of productivity provokes self-reflection and forces people to do new things rather than stick to the activities which are dictated by school the whole year. It also forces a person to spend more time with the ones around them to examine the nature of the relationships which surround them.
Benji's time spent in Sag is a great example of the way life slows down over the summer and how it changes the way you see the world. To Benji, Sag is a metaphor for summer, and thus Sag becomes almost synonymous with and symbolic with relaxation. Students like Benji go from 8-hour days at school and a fast-moving life dictated by schoolwork and extracurriculars to having to find entirely new ways to fill the time. We see Benji embrace nothingness as he spends countless days lying in bed till noon and then waking up, just to continue doing nothing. Whether it’s his family’s socioeconomic status which allows him to be free to not work or some sort of personal choice, Benji certainly captures what it means to do nothing over the summer and the effect of this lifestyle. The first noticeable effect all this freedom and down time has on Benji is that it makes him a more hyperobservant and proactive person within his family. We see him become aware of the family social dynamics, even being in tune to the minute sounds which signal the start of his father’s morning drinking, and the start of irritability and abuse. He even becomes in tune to the growing potential risk of an outburst of anger from his father each time he changes the channel while his dad is watching TV. Benji also becomes aware of the differences in his mother’s mood between when she is at Sag and when she is back at home in Manhattan. Not only does he notice that she is happier at Sag, but Benji almost sees her as a different person. By this we see that Sag, and thus summer, has had such a profound effect on his mother to the point where, as Benji describes it, her skin glows in a way that it doesn’t elsewhere. Clearly, the effect of summer is shown through the changed attitudes of those around him, an effect which allows Benji to see relationships, such as his mother and father, in a more revealing light.
Sag Harbor also does a great job at depicting another side effect of summer. When Benji does decide to hang out with friends, we see the “nothing-to-do” effect of summer influence their behavior. From my experience, and I’m sure some people relate to this, when I am bored I like to mess around and sometimes catch myself doing some stupid things. I think Benji and his friends are a great example of this effect of summer. Most notably, when Benji and his friends decide to have a BB gun fight in order to prove their manliness. The fight has no real merit, but we see the friends constantly trying to 1-up each other and it escalates to the point where someone stupidly ignores the rules and Benji gets shot in the eye. This is a classic (sort of extreme) example of what summer does to young teenagers. They often have nothing better to do so they resort to the wildest, most absurd activities to find fun ways to pass the time. Although the BB fight may have been fun, it was a harmful and mindless activity which had lasting consequences. Yet despite the consequences, I find myself relating (although not at the level of BB gun fights) to his decision to knowingly take part in an activity which could be dangerous for the sake of having a little fun. It's sort of inexplicable why teenage kids do these things, but at the same time it’s also undeniable that messing around is incredibly fun in the moment and memorable to look back on. Whatever the case, without the context of summer, these kinds of things wouldn’t happen and it’s clear that something about the atmosphere and freedom of summer inexplicably provokes kids like Benji and I to do things we normally wouldn’t do.
On the flipside of Benji’s “summer of nothing” we see those who choose to take up jobs, and choose to fill up their time in more “productive” ways. Reggie embodies this alternative extremely well by showing us what it feels like to have a summer job and how it might be different from a traditional 9-5. By showing both options within this narrative, Colson does a good job at portraying what it means to be a kid in the summer. At the same time he, the two narratives do a good job at showing how different socioeconomic statuses might influence a kid’s path over the summer where kids like Benji are free to sit around all day while other kids, like Reggie, take up jobs to support themselves and the family.
All in all, Colson Whitehead has done an amazing job at capturing the atmosphere and dynamics of summer and although the facade of a relaxed getaway isn’t as clear cut as it may seem, with people like Benji’s dad bringing tension and aggression, Sag still symbolizes the sense of escape which causes summer to have such profound behavioral effects on everyone. Overall, as we get to the end of the novel I find myself deeply relating to a lot of these “summertime effects,” and it’s made me really nostalgic for summer, so it’s a good thing summer break is just around the corner.
Benji's time spent in Sag is a great example of the way life slows down over the summer and how it changes the way you see the world. To Benji, Sag is a metaphor for summer, and thus Sag becomes almost synonymous with and symbolic with relaxation. Students like Benji go from 8-hour days at school and a fast-moving life dictated by schoolwork and extracurriculars to having to find entirely new ways to fill the time. We see Benji embrace nothingness as he spends countless days lying in bed till noon and then waking up, just to continue doing nothing. Whether it’s his family’s socioeconomic status which allows him to be free to not work or some sort of personal choice, Benji certainly captures what it means to do nothing over the summer and the effect of this lifestyle. The first noticeable effect all this freedom and down time has on Benji is that it makes him a more hyperobservant and proactive person within his family. We see him become aware of the family social dynamics, even being in tune to the minute sounds which signal the start of his father’s morning drinking, and the start of irritability and abuse. He even becomes in tune to the growing potential risk of an outburst of anger from his father each time he changes the channel while his dad is watching TV. Benji also becomes aware of the differences in his mother’s mood between when she is at Sag and when she is back at home in Manhattan. Not only does he notice that she is happier at Sag, but Benji almost sees her as a different person. By this we see that Sag, and thus summer, has had such a profound effect on his mother to the point where, as Benji describes it, her skin glows in a way that it doesn’t elsewhere. Clearly, the effect of summer is shown through the changed attitudes of those around him, an effect which allows Benji to see relationships, such as his mother and father, in a more revealing light.
Sag Harbor also does a great job at depicting another side effect of summer. When Benji does decide to hang out with friends, we see the “nothing-to-do” effect of summer influence their behavior. From my experience, and I’m sure some people relate to this, when I am bored I like to mess around and sometimes catch myself doing some stupid things. I think Benji and his friends are a great example of this effect of summer. Most notably, when Benji and his friends decide to have a BB gun fight in order to prove their manliness. The fight has no real merit, but we see the friends constantly trying to 1-up each other and it escalates to the point where someone stupidly ignores the rules and Benji gets shot in the eye. This is a classic (sort of extreme) example of what summer does to young teenagers. They often have nothing better to do so they resort to the wildest, most absurd activities to find fun ways to pass the time. Although the BB fight may have been fun, it was a harmful and mindless activity which had lasting consequences. Yet despite the consequences, I find myself relating (although not at the level of BB gun fights) to his decision to knowingly take part in an activity which could be dangerous for the sake of having a little fun. It's sort of inexplicable why teenage kids do these things, but at the same time it’s also undeniable that messing around is incredibly fun in the moment and memorable to look back on. Whatever the case, without the context of summer, these kinds of things wouldn’t happen and it’s clear that something about the atmosphere and freedom of summer inexplicably provokes kids like Benji and I to do things we normally wouldn’t do.
On the flipside of Benji’s “summer of nothing” we see those who choose to take up jobs, and choose to fill up their time in more “productive” ways. Reggie embodies this alternative extremely well by showing us what it feels like to have a summer job and how it might be different from a traditional 9-5. By showing both options within this narrative, Colson does a good job at portraying what it means to be a kid in the summer. At the same time he, the two narratives do a good job at showing how different socioeconomic statuses might influence a kid’s path over the summer where kids like Benji are free to sit around all day while other kids, like Reggie, take up jobs to support themselves and the family.
All in all, Colson Whitehead has done an amazing job at capturing the atmosphere and dynamics of summer and although the facade of a relaxed getaway isn’t as clear cut as it may seem, with people like Benji’s dad bringing tension and aggression, Sag still symbolizes the sense of escape which causes summer to have such profound behavioral effects on everyone. Overall, as we get to the end of the novel I find myself deeply relating to a lot of these “summertime effects,” and it’s made me really nostalgic for summer, so it’s a good thing summer break is just around the corner.
Wow this is a very well written post, I also like the summer adventure aspect too. I think that's what made it such a good last book to read. As Mr. Mitchell had said in class, we are able to relate to the book more closely because the characters at this point are our age.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with your sentiments about the transformative power of summer vacation. It's remarkable how the absence of responsibilities during this time allows us to pause, reflect, and engage in new experiences beyond the constraints of a school routine. Benji's portrayal in Sag Harbor beautifully captures the essence of summer and its impact on one's perspective. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteInteresting post! I like how you bring up the idea that the "nothingness" during summer and the amount of time on your hands allows you to come to new realizations about your identity. In class, we talked about how summers are seen as an opportunity for reinvention. Benji hopes to reinvent himself as "Ben," and is conscious about the shoes he wears, the music he listens to, etc., so that he can go back to school in the fall as a cooler, manlier version of his current self. Maybe the fact that there is a lack of other obligations during the summer and more unorganized time makes us feel like we have the time to explore our inner selves and reinvent into someone cooler.
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