Proving Masculinity in Sag Harbor
When we read Whitehead's Sag Harbor , we can see that throughout the story, a lot of the characters, particularly in Benji's friend group, have a sort of desire to carry themselves across in the most masculine way possible, whether this be in roast battles or games they play throughout Sag Harbor, Benji and his crew are always trying to seem tough and cool in the eyes of each other. This desire for seeming as cool and fitting as possible is something I've seen throughout all coming of age books we've seen this year, from Holden's facade of toughness to Esther's initial attempts to fit in with her schoolmates, to the Bechdels' hidden aspects of their lives and Jason Taylor's self edition. Wanting to fit in is a big part of one's coming of age story, and is probably something that everyone's wanted to do at least once in their lives. We see this in Benji now, multiple times throughout Sag Harbor . I've seen this happen a lot, but I'...