Analysis Of Jennifer Egan's A Visit From The Goon Squad

Jennifer Egan’s novel, A Visit From the Goon Squad, follows the lives of a few people who are relatively connected. For instance, Bennie, a former rock star and record executive, and his assistant Sasha, who is a kleptomaniac, are main characters in their respected chapters that are linked together. The story leaps around from one character to year filling in the gaps of the past and future simultaneously. There are many themes present throughout the whole novel; most notably the passage of time and aging. Throughout the whole story, there will be times where each character would be at the height of their life/career, but eventually start to struggle once they are no longer at their peak. One moment, they are in the spotlight, and afterwards,

Near the end of the chapter, Stephanie returns home from her meeting and enters her bedroom. As she unbuttons her blouse, Stephanie stumbles upon a bobby pin which is found by Bennie’s clothes. Before throwing the bobby pin in the wastebasket, Stephanie inspects it due to it looking familiar. After inspecting it, Stephanie knew who the bobby pin belonged to. She then came to the conclusion that her husband is having an affair with her friend and tennis partner, Kathy. To put it differently, Stephanie is pre-occupied with having a social life that her marriage ended up falling apart. The chapter reveals how creating new connections can end old connections since Stephanie loses her relationship with Bennie after befriending the residents of Crandale like Kathy. Moreover, she also loses her friendship with Kathy since she is the woman that her husband was having an affair with. Lastly, after learning her husband’s affair with her friend, Stephanie goes to her garden and lies down on the grass in shock. Stephanie wants “to cry but she couldn’t. The feeling was to deep” (Egan 135). After a moment of pain and sadness, Stephanie, while laying on the grass beside the fence, opens her eyes where she sees “ Noreen’s white face peeking through from the other side” (Egan 136). Noreen says, “I like to spit in this spot,” which Stephanie responds, “I know” (Egan 136). The scene in the garden reveals that Stephanie realizes that she is not only an outcast of the town, but also an outcast of her own family. She acknowledges Noreen’s existence after telling her “good night” after learning about the revelation of her own