Sag Harbor and the television
The TV features heavily in Sag Harbor. As early as page 7, Ben tells us that “[t]he TV was our babysitter…” In fact, throughout the book, the television is treated as an essential fixture of their household- not even of their house, as the television and its role follows them to Sag Harbor- it’s very nearly a fifth member of their family. Its absence is explicitly and notably disturbing (page 121, “[t]he TV was off, a bad sign.”), for, as Ben tells us on page 156, “The TV was always on in our house, whether people watched it or not. We needed sound, any kind of sound. Watching TV and reading at the same time was standard op.”
These repeated references to the TV are outgrowths of a core theme in Sag Harbor: that of the “made-for-TV” or “Cosby” family. The argument Ben makes with these lines is that his family is fundamentally structured around a veneer of correctness. How the household actually functions (quite poorly and abusively, from what we can see) is entirely irrelevant: how the household appears, to strangers, to colleagues, to classmates, to the other Sag Harbor families, and, crucially, to oneself and the rest of the family, is anything but. This need drives the family away from true and meaningful change, and towards the perfect, polished image: as seen on TV.
(Ben himself can be seen as a microcosm of this, in his quest to appear “cool”).
This theme is most obvious in Chapter 5, “To Prevent Flare-ups.” The TV features heavily throughout, most notably as a reflection of the conflict between Ben and his father. Ben uses watching The Road Warrior as a means of escaping from his increasingly drunk and violent father; at the same time, at every opportunity, his father changes the channel to CNN. This suggest an interesting facet of their deceitful family dynamic: while Ben remains fixated on the goal of maintaining appearances and retreating from the Bad, as his father becomes increasingly intoxicated, he seems to care less and less about maintaining said appearance, pulling the TV away from the fantasy of The Road Warrior (and, at the same time, the fantasy of the Cosby Family), and onto CNN, a literal reflection of the truth in the form of news. We see this dynamic reflected elsewhere. Ben’s mother tries to keep arguments inside the house, away from the other Sag Harbor people, while his father doesn’t care about where he starts things.
The TV as a motif permeates Sag Harbor, and reflects the fundamentally flawed dynamic of Ben’s family.
Have a good summer!
Very interesting breakdown! Using the TV as a means of reflecting Benji's family flaw is very interesting. I think the realness of this novel really stems from the fact that we see Benji's domestic troubles trickle down into other realms of his life. The TV is a good example, but we also see times where he and his brother are left more along compared to other kids, and how his brother arranges his work schedule to not see his father. In these days we see aspects of his parents' troubles trickle into his daily life.
ReplyDeleteI love this analysis! As you mention, the TV represents a lot of different possibilities ranging from danger to truth. I think the point about Benji's father changing the channel to the truth (CNN) is very interesting. We definitely see throughout the book that Benji is extremely insecure not only about his own perceived uncoolness, but about others judging him and knowing what's going on at home.
ReplyDeleteNever thought of viewing the TV as an integral part of Sag Harbor (maybe because I didn't think a lot anyways), but yeah. Makes sense.
ReplyDeleteThe TV generally works as a way to induce a form of stasis upon the family. Nothing is happening except idle consumption of media and sitting on the couch. So nothing really objectionable there. A great excuse to not interact with other people. ("Sorry, can't argue with a drunk man right now, I'm staring at colors on a screen!")
The symbolism of the Road Warrior and CNN's also pretty interesting, I guess. Have a silly summer.