"A Visit from The Goon Squad" Character Analysis

 Author Leo Tolstoy once said “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time’’. The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines Time as “the measured or measurable period during which an action, process, or condition exists or continues'', in other words, time is a period that can be measured where situations occur and people change. Jennifer Egan’s “A Visit From the Goon Squad” can be called “Rattling Good Story”. The book “A Visit From the Goon Squad” is the main topic for this essay, in which one of Eagan's finest works is analysed. The story gained a lot of attention from big networks who interviewed Egan such as CBS, PBS NewsHour and Talks at Google. Each chapter in the book includes a different variety of character which makes the storyline very special.

To begin, through the use of the character Scotty in “A Visit From the Goon Squad”, Jennifer Egan displays the slippery nature of time and how it affects and changes people. There's an adage that says “Time heals all wounds” this is indeed true. In Chapter 6 X’s and O’s Eagan brings to light Scotty's story. In high school, Scotty was very admired. He married Alice, the girl that Bennie liked. At a time in the story, the author explains that Scotty’s mom sadly passes away. This caused him to shatter mentally making him unable to finish his education. He would spend his time on the grass looking up at the sun and this resulted in him being visually impaired. The author used visual imagery to display how broken Scotty was at a time in his life. For example, when Scotty spends most of his time watching the sun. This helps the reader imagine how Scotty spends his time daily. The bills came and that forced him to find a job in order to maintain his household so he started working for the city as a janitor. Scotty divorced Alice and his life was a mess, he became a washed-up individual with not much to do with his life. The young man disappears from chapter 7 and returns in chapter 13 when he makes a big comeback and becomes a rockstar with the help of Bennie. His story is proof that time can heal a person, among all the adversities that he faced in his life, this character managed to keep his head up and pushed through as time passed. He was able to make nothing into something “I looked down at the city. Its extravagance felt wasteful, like gushing oil or some other precious thing Bennie was hoarding for himself, using it up so no one else could get any. I thought: If I had a view like this to look down on every day, I would have the energy and inspiration to conquer the world. The trouble is, when you most need such a view, no one gives it to you”. With time he healed to the point where he was able to look at the life Bernie has and he mustered up the energy and was inspired to start living better than he was before. Something important to note is that he would not have been able to do so if he had not been given the proper time he needed to heal, he could not have been rushed into this decision.

Furthermore, through the use of the character Bosco in “A Visit From the Goon Squad” Jennifer Egan displays the slippery nature of time and how it affects and changes people. In the final chapter Pure Language, Bennie’s story comes to light. At the beginning of chapter 13, Bernie's music history is revealed as he was fired from his own music label because the producers complained that the music he was making was terrible. Bernie displayed honourable characteristics as he fights for what he believes in by deciding to risk doing something on his own, however, it did not result in a successful career. The moment that redeems Bernie into the music industry is when Scotty Concert was a huge success, it allowed for a turning point in Bernie’s life, ' ‘It happens once in your life if you're the luckiest man on earth,' Bennie said, 'an event like that', this quote displays Bernie’s newfound happiness as he realizes that he has done it, he has finally redeemed himself in the music industry. As for literary devices, the author used allusion in this case by introducing another character “Scotty” from another chapter into this story in order to add context. We can see here through Benny's ups and downs’ that with time he was able to reclaim his status in the music industry.

Moreover, through the use of the character Sasha in “A Visit From the Goon Squad”, Jennifer Egan displays the slippery nature of time and how it affects and changes people. In Chapter 1 Found objects bring’s to light Sarah’s addiction. In this chapter Sasha plunder’s a wallet from a woman in the bathroom, while being on a date with alex. Although, she didn't have any reasons for her actions. It is known that she steals things in order to fill a void inside her,and she only steals things that are meaningful to their owners,trying to steal their importance. The author used foreshadowing as a literary device to indicate to us readers that Sasha is kleptomaniac. According to the Cambridge dictionary kleptomaniac is a very strong wish to steal that you cannot control, especially without any need or purpose, usually considered to be a type of mental illness. However, Sasha knowing that she is in the wrong later on made the not an easy one but a hard decision to return the wallet to the lady. She felt like by doing this action it would redeem her. The following quote displays how Sasha wanted to return the wallet:“I’ll check the bathroom,” she told Alex, and forced herself to walk slowly around the elevator bank. The bathroom was empty. Sasha opened her purse, took out the wallet, unearthed her vial of Xanax, and popped one between her teeth. They worked faster if you chewed them. As the caustic taste flooded her mouth, she scanned the room, trying to decide where to ditch the wallet: In the stall? Under the sink? The decision paralyzed her. She had to do this right, to emerge unscathed, and if she could, if she did—she had a frenzied sense of making a promise to Coz”. Nonetheless, as she was trying to find a place to put the wallet the bathroom door opened and the lady walked in. There was a pause, that made Sasha feel like she was being confronted. Sasha put two into one and knew that the lady had known all along that she stole the wallet. Shasha handed her the wallet. She was able to fight her personal demons. Although, her addiction to stealing occurs again but this time with Bennie Salazar who hired her as an assistant. He proceeds to fire her. In the final Chapter Pure language Bennie has this to say about Sasha: ““She was great. I was crazy about her. But it turned out she had sticky fingers. She stole things. It was kind of a sickness, I think”. In the long run, with time Sasha leaves her dirty lifestyle of being a thief and finds redemption. She marries a man by the name Drew who she went to college with and settles down to build a family. They have two children, Alison and Lincoln and Sasha is able to transform her stealing addiction into something greater. Which is her passion for art made out of found objects.    

To end up, through the use of the characters Scotty, Bennie, and Sasha in “A Visit From the Goon Squad”, Jennifer Egan displays the slippery nature of time and how it affects and changes people.