As we talked in class about Uncle Nelson, I started thinking
more about what he really represents to the reader. Like, we said that he is
representative of a path that Benji could follow. The character Benji. For
example, Uncle Nelson says, “Now it’s your turn to do all that stuff we used to
do.” Uncle Nelson is back in Sag after getting older, but he doesn’t really
seem grown up. He’s still not sure what to do, and we’re given the example of
how Nelson sat with the kids at the dinner table. So, there’s the worry in Ben’s
mind that he could turn out like Uncle Nelson.
But what’s interesting to me, is
just a bit earlier when Benji is explaining who Uncle Nelson used to be, to
Bobby. Benji says, “Uncle Nelson used to have an MG.” and he narrates to
himself, “There was a picture in the Hempstead House of him leaning on the hood
of this emerald Speed Racer vehicle. Cool as hell. He was wearing hip visor
shades and had a beatnik V of hair shrouding his lip. No, not exactly in line
with the standard of Sag Harbor alignment,” (246). There are multiple relevant
aspects to this passage. One, Benji clearly fits into the Sag Harbor alignment.
He is part of the people who come out every summer, his grandparents were first
generation-ers. He knows the history. He goes to a private school and lives at
his beach house in the summer. So, he fits that well. But he also mentions the
car. The MG that Nelson used to have. I could argue that this fits either side,
whether he is like his uncle or not. Benji isn’t like Nelson because he doesn’t
have an MG, and isn’t “cool as hell.” However, Potentially, the MG is a cool
thing that draws people to Nelson. For Benji, it’s like his empty house that
lets people congregate around him. There’s a sense of similarity between the
two characters, but I think the idea that Uncle Nelson wasn’t “in line with the
standard Sag Harbor alignment” is enough to separate the two. But there’s just
enough in common that Ben can be worried about what he will be like when he’s
older. And how he wouldn’t want to be like Uncle Nelson. The recollection of
the dinner part where Nelson sat with the kids is enough of a memory to make
Ben want to grow up, even if he isn’t that much like Uncle Nelson after all.
I can definitely see your point about Uncle Nelson and Benji. I think it's pretty cool to think about Uncle Nelson's coming of age. Everyone has a coming of age story and it's quite interesting to switch perspectives with Uncle Nelson.
ReplyDeleteI like how you took parts about Uncle Nelson's youth that we didn't discuss in class, and used that information to draw a conclusion that differed slightly from the general conclusions drawn in class-- Nelson being cool in his youth puts a different spin on things
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about Uncle Nelson specifically, but I think there is a definite sense throughout the book that the young are growing up to become just like other people in Sag Harbor. Especially at the end of the book, when Benji is at the races and spots the small child and say he looks just like Benji did when he is younger. There is the definite sense that Benji is growing up to be just like one of the adults in Sag, just as this child is presumably growing up and following Benji.
ReplyDeleteI don't really see Benji turning into an Uncle Nelson figure, but I'd be much more worried about Reggie, who seems to take much more readily to Nelson's lifestyle. We can see inside Benji's head, and I don't think someone who is so aware of Nelson's ostracization from his family would choose that path.
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