ben making fun of benji
Throughout the novel, Ben and Benji become their own distinctive characters and personalities. Though they are the same character, Ben an older version of Benji, you can clearly see Ben's maturity over Benji's childish self. Ben's tone is much more serious, having suffered living the life of an adult man. He's experienced much more than Benji has, he has a much serious perspective about life. This is contrasted by Benji's nearly aloof personality.
Benji eats ice cream for all his meals, which later has a significant effect on his life as an adult where he is repulsed by sweets. Benji's concerns early in the novel are about reinventing himself, being a cooler teen, to go back to school in the fall. When his boss pats his hair at his ice-cream shop job, Benji and his friends take this very seriously. While the book is set during Benji's time as a child, we see glimpses of Ben's life and the much more serious issues regarding violence.
Throughout the book, Ben makes jabs about Benji, retelling Benji's story with joking nature. Ben shares Benji's most humiliating moments, his flustered holding hands with a girl the first time, depicts him almost humorously as he's riding a tricycle. In a lot of ways, Ben depicts Benji as a unknowing child who has yet to get out of the awkward stages of his life.
This in some ways may be related to Benji's wanted name change, he attempts to get people to call him "Ben," a more grown up name, but people ignore this request. Ben almost seems to highlight this, suggesting that Benji perhaps has yet to "earn" the name Ben, (earning it by growing up).
Absolutely fantastic post! You make a lot of great points that I agree with. Benji, has much smaller problems that Ben and has not yet fully completed his coming of age, and is not yet "earning" the name of Ben. I'm sure I will go through a much similar experience as an adult looking back on my past problems as relatively small and inconsequential.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment about how the difference personalities of Ben and Benji are portrayed through the way that each chapter is narrated. In addition to a Benji whose immaturity has denied him the right to the name "Ben", the story also shows Benji (and potentially his whole family) who is oppressed under the control of his father. From Ben's narration, we see how Ben eventually came out of this control and was able to look at the impact of his father on his family in a more top-down view (ex. at the end of the chapter we just read, Ben reflects on why he and his mom were not able to stand up for each other in front of his dad).
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea that Benji in the novel does not yet deserve to claim the name Ben. Struggling to navigate this bridge to adulthood, like his trouble with girls or trying to find his place within his group since he doesn't own a car or anything, is what makes his narrative especially one of coming-of-age. Every moment is held of great significance for Benji, but to Ben, he can now see how they also helped his development. I enjoyed reading your post!
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