Toxic Pressure in Sag Harbor
Although being aware of the history of those who came before you and the sacrifices that they made for their descendants can be empowering and inspiring, being expected to live up to these legacies can feel overwhelming and even suffocating to the younger generation, especially when the expectation is forced upon them. Sag Harbor shows a great example of how these expectations can have a toxic effect on the descendants of self-made pioneers.
Benji and Regi are surrounded by adults who expect them to always acknowledge their gratitude for their predecessors (i.e. Their settlers of Sag Harbor, their parents, and leaders of the Black Liberation movement). People tell them how privileged they are to be given what they have, which their parents had to work hard to earn as African Americans. Up to this point, it’s understandable why the adults are constantly reminding this lesson to Benji and Reggie: they want to encourage them to not take things for granted and work hard so that they can succeed in their careers and perhaps rise through the social hierarchy.
However, this becomes toxic when the older generation uses this as a justification for shaming the younger generation for not meeting a certain expectation. For example, at the beginning of the novel, Benji says “...I had no idea who DuBois was. I had learned to keep my mouth shut about things I didn’t know when I sensed that I was expected to know them” (17). Benji constantly feels self-conscious around adults in his family/Sag Harbor because he fears that he might disappoint them if he didn’t meet the expected level of knowledge about black history. We see a harsher manifestation of this high-pressure culture through Uncle Nelson, who is ghosted by his family after dropping out of dental school and moving to California.
Uncle Nelson’s example extends to an overarching pressure on many children in this community–that they must pay back the sacrifices of their ancestors/parents in the form of academic achievement. If they fail to meet the adults’ standards of success, they are considered a failure, like how Reggie is called a “shithead” by James for getting two C-’s. As a result, the children deemed “failures” feel isolated and oppressed by their families, rather than being empowered by the privileges that they were given.
I totally agree that big legacies are disheartening and even suffocating for descendants. In a way, I think that part of the reason we see Benji be lazy and unproductive at Sag is due to the fact that he has to live up to so much. Not only is money not a concern to him, which disincentivizes his motivation to work, but I'm guessing he also feels intimidated by the pressure to live up to his father and mother's standards in terms of professions, which may be why we see him hesistant to pick up a food service job or do anything. For Benji, it might be that he feels doing nothing is better than tarnishing the family reputation by picking up a "lower caliber" job.
ReplyDeleteOh wow this is an interesting take on the book that I have not seen before. But you are correct, it does leave more pressure on their descendants to either do better than them, or be a person they're not, They might feel that no matter what they do they're not good enough, and they might even be scared of wrecking the family name.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your analysis of the pressure and expectations placed upon the younger generation in Sag Harbor. You raise a crucial point about the delicate balance between acknowledging the sacrifices of those who came before us and the burden that can be placed upon the younger generation to live up to these legacies. I can personally relate to Benji's self-consciousness and fear of disappointing the adults when he falls short of their expectations.
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