Mr. Cooper
Throughout much of the first half of the novel, Mr. Cooper is merely set aside. Although his existence is made known, his presence is in the background. Most of what we see during the first half of the novel is Benji Cooper and his friends’ antics where they discuss the silliest of topics, such as the ethnicity of their ice cream boss. This part of the novel sets a somewhat light-hearted mood, although still with some darker undertones.
But once the dad comes home in “To Prevent Flare-Ups”, we see a much different side of Benji Cooper and his family. All of a sudden, Benji becomes hyper aware of every sound that goes on around the house. The story’s tone takes a more serious turn as we learn about how neglective and borderline abusive Mr. Cooper is. Because of his alcoholism problem, he is always on the line of flaring-up, and Benji is extremely careful not to push him over the line.
Although his dad isn’t a great person at all, Benji still wishes for his dad’s affection. In the novel, he recounts the times he and Reggie begs their dad to give him a haircut. They have to ask for weeks or months on end until his father finally gives in and cuts their hair, and even then, the haircut’s charm only lasts a day or so until they shower. And yet, these little moments seem to be greatly treasured by Benji.
We might have an inside preview of Mr. Cooper, but others in the story do not. Although their family dynamic is quite frankly, broken, Mr. Cooper still appears to be relatively popular among others. He’s known as the barbecue guy who always has the best barbecues, and that makes him well-liked by many people in his neighborhood and Benji’s own friends.
“To Prevent Flare-Ups” represents a major shift in Benji’s narration and helps show one of Benji’s major struggles. Benji’s father plays a major role in the way Benji has lived life the way he has, and Benji is left searching for affection that never comes. And yet, they appear to be a model family to others in the neighborhood. At the end of the day, it just goes to show how little one can truly know someone else.
Though Benji did tend to share a lot of stories in the beginning of Sag Harbor, I agree that he becomes even more nostalgic/thoughtful as the book continues and Mr. Cooper starts doing more things that stand out in Benji's life. I really started to notice when Benji would look back on things with sadness, like his father's haircuts. Not only that, but he also seemed to redirect the story of the haircuts in the middle of it. He talked about how perfect they were, but then revealed they actually didn't even look good. That kinda saddened me to be honest. I hope Mr. Cooper's relationship improved with his sons in the years to come.
ReplyDeleteI think Mr. Cooper did what he could to be a good father, which was quite a bit considering how Benji still cares about him and wants his attention, but his alcoholism and abusive tendencies ended up overshadowing all of the happy memories that he had with him. I wonder what people would think once they find out about the real Mr. Cooper, the one that Benji has spent all of his life with? Maybe they may switch up and have completely different opinions about him, or they would excuse his behavior and pass it off as "work being tough" or something like that and continue to be close with him.
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