A Visit From The Goon Squad: Character Analysis

The novel A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan, brushes upon various problems that each character endures during their lifetime. Although these issues vary from each chapter, a few issues tend to correlate with one another. In the novel A Visit from the Goon Squad, the chapter “Good-bye, My Love” conveys the idea that desires are conflicting and often obscure your psyche. Whereas “The Gold Cure” transmits the idea that a consistent life is most desirable because change is feared.

In “Good-bye, My Love” Ted seizes desires that are often conflicted which creates confusion and detachment from his emotions. For example, Ted travels to Naples after being paid to find Sasha to ensure her safety. Although he clearly has an interest in

Much like Ted’s reappearing memories of Sasha, his wife, and sons, Bennie tends to have past memories of his family floating through his mind. For instance, Bennie notes the change in his relationship with his son. After fighting for custody of Chris, he pays him visits but does not see him as often as he would like to. When Bennie visits Chris he notes that “the baby he and Stephanie had nuzzled and kissed [is] now this painful, mysterious presence” (Egan 35). Bennie detests that his relationship with his son is no longer the way it used to be. He latches onto these past memories because they remind him of the times when his life was consistent and filled with joy. Evidently, when Bennie drops off Chris he recalls his past memories of the home him and his family once shared and how it ”had filled him with awe every time he’d taken a key from his pocket to open the front door” (Egan 34). However, dropping off his son at the house now causes him pain because he is reminded of how different his life is and is incapable of driving into the

Sasha is against consistency as she leaves her family behind and forms weak relationships that end rather quickly. On the other hand, Bennie is afraid of change and despises the fact that his life is no longer the way it used to be prior to the divorce. He cannot come to the term that he is sexually impotent and convinces himself that putting gold flakes in his coffee will return him to his old state of being sexually active. The flakes fulfil Bennie’s desires, but only temporarily. For example, as he was in the studio with Sasha and The Stop/Go sisters, he had “his first erection in months- prompted by Sasha” (Egan 30). He is ecstatic that he finally has the power to be aroused, but the feeling lacks consistency, as it disappears soon after. Everything in Bennie’s life lacks consistency besides the “gold which didn’t tarnish...The flakes would look the same in five years” (Egan 34). Although gold isn’t an emotion that Bennie can desire, it is a physical object that he can hold onto that won’t ever