In Sag Harbor, Randy, Benji’s (sort of) friend, obtains a car, that changes their world. He thinks of this as an amazing improvement for their mobility and independence and facilitates adventures. However, I do not see this as a good thing for them and it does not mirror the benefits that the automobile brought to america as a whole.
The first reason that this car is bad, is that it is an isolated improvement. Whenever something happens to only one kid out of many among teenagers, things rarely end well. In this case, the car availability accentuates social strife in their group and creates an exclusive set of kids who are allowed in the car. This group is limited to 5 and Benji describes having to leave one kid out. This is part of some bigger social issues, as he points out. Additionally, this is making the kids suck up to Randy to get to one of the ones he drives, arguing over who is better friends..etc. Some of you are probably realizing that I was in Randy’s situation to a lesser degree, being one of the first to get a license. This process of deciding who to drive is uncomfortable for all parties. Lastly, I am not sure how much having the car is actually improving their life. They now do less wondering and more planned traveling. I think their exploratory missions, walking or biking, were more valuable.
One of the things that was the result of the acquisitions of cars in America resulted in was mobility for the common man. It made things run smoothly because everyone could travel and had great benefits. But in this case, with only one kid owning a car, it is not nearly as positive as it may appear.
Randy is not a desirable or even a nice character. He lies to justify not taking NP (for the second time), he lies to make himself sound cooler ("the frat always opens with this song at parties), and overall I don't think that Benji and NP would hang out with him if he didn't have a car.
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting, the idea of relating getting a car to coming of age. I got my permit more than a year ago, but I have absolutely no pressing desire to do my hours with Santa and get my license. Now, this is partly because I can pretty much bike or get a ride anywhere I need to go, and all my friends seem to have cars to drive me, so it just seems like an unnecessary addition to the responsibilities I've already got. Maybe I'll get it in the summer?
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree. The car seems to make Marcus more isolated than he was before, as well. Benji acknowledges that people suck up to Randy because of the car, which makes it worse for him. Should he knowingly suck up to someone to enjoy the perks of his car? Or should he choose not to be a part of this? Randy can be an ass about his car too, which makes it worse. He didn't want to give Benji and Reggie a ride right after he just shot Benji in the eye. If someone in the group had the privileges of a car, it definitely shouldn't be Randy. But I agree with you that one person having special privileges in a group of friends can definitely stir up problems among the people in that group.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you are saying. When the group only had one car it was kinda sickening to watch them suck up to Randy in order to not be the one that was left out. Even though it improved a bit when Bobby got his car, people were still being left out, such as when Bobby promised to take Benji out for a drive, but showed up with NP and the girls and told Benji he couldn't take him. I agree that the group's old form of exploration, bikes and walking, was probably better for the group.
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