Language Analysis Essay

Language in A Visit from the Goon Squad

Though Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From the Goon Squad has received praise on many grounds, one of its most compelling features is its undeniable humanness. The Chicago Tribune called it groundbreaking, featuring “characters about whom you come to care deeply as you watch them doing things they shouldn’t, acting gloriously, infuriatingly human.” Readers connect so easily to this book not simply because they care about the characters, but because they embody the characters. Through Jennifer Egan’s refreshingly contemporary writing style, she displays humankind’s complete lack of self awareness in a horrifying, yet eye opening fashion.

Jennifer Egan utilizes a third person omniscient point of view and a casual tone within the chapters to provide insight to the thoughts and feelings of her characters, and easily relate her readers to those characters. Each chapter focuses on one person, having their own personal flaws and trials, connecting them to the other characters through their lack of control over their own lives. Within each chapter Jennifer Egan mimics the way in which people think and speak by seamlessly switching between dialogue and personal thought. By being able to delve into each character’s most personal thoughts and feelings, readers learn that these people are self obsessed in a way that is both appalling and yet undeniably relatable. One of the most heartbreaking cases is displayed in chapter three when Rhea explains the dynamic of her band, but focuses primarily on her freckles, her unrequited love for Bennie, and the fact that she is not a “real punk.” Although having a total self obsession fed by her insecurities, she has a complete lack of self awareness and identity, proven when Lou, a man who she despises, seems to have a better understanding of her than she does. Through situations like these Jennifer Egan suggests that this absence of self understanding is a problem plaguing modern society.

In chapter four Mindy is able to predict the actions of the people on the safari with her, yet lacks the self awareness to stop herself from marrying Lou who inevitably leaves her with no money, struggling to support her family. Charlene knows her father well enough to predict that he will marry Mindy, but cannot stop herself from joining a cult in Mexico and eventually dying from salmonella poisoning. Rhea feels that she understands Bennie so well that she may have a deeper understanding of him than she does of herself. There seems to be a theme of characters having a deep understanding of other characters, yet lacking this understanding of themselves. Jennifer Egan incorporates modernism while illustrating this by providing readers with views into the future, using a wide timeline that the novel occurs in, and by providing anecdotes that give a peek into the future lives of characters. This both demonstrates a lack of personal understanding, and the impossibility of predicting one’s future.

Jennifer Egan employes a modern writing style along with time shifts, a third person omniscient point of view, and smooth transitions between dialogue and thought. This simultaneously connects readers to her characters, while proving that society has an alarming lack of self awareness, leading to life outcomes that are impossible to predict. A Visit From the Goon Squad leaves readers feeling simultaneously horrified and reassured, seeing the frustrating qualities of Jennifer Egan’s characters in themselves, but knowing that this trait is present in everyone.