Reflecting on the Meaning of "Coming of Age" in Sag Harbor

     At the beginning of this semester, we discussed the characteristics of "coming of age". While coming of age is a slow process and especially difficult to track while you are living through it, the progression of it can be more effectively studied when looked upon in retrospect. That is what Colson Whitehead does in Sag Harbor. A lot of the books we have read this semester are set entirely in the present, as the character is undergoing the coming of age process, which makes it more difficult to see the coming of age happening. Whitehead, on the other hand, provides a narrative that combines Benji's viewpoint as he is living through his summer in Sag Harbor, as well as a voice looking back on that time from the future to allow us to better see the coming of age process. Benji also tells us his aspirations and goals for the future so we can see the continued track that his coming of age will take.

    In the final chapter of the book, Benji looks back at his younger years with a feeling of pity, "Fifteen looks at fourteen and says, that guy was an Idiot. And fifteen looks at eight and says, that guy knew so little. Why can't fifteen and three quarters look back at fifteen and a half and say, That guy didn't know anything" (328). This idea provides a reference point, from which he is able to look down from the peak of where he currently is in life at the distance he has climbed from his youth. While we aren't able to have the same detailed look on Benji's past as Benji does, we are able to understand Benji's thoughts and emotions as he looks back on that time. This depiction gives us a better look at Benji's coming of age and allows us to share in the same feelings as he does when we relate Benji's thoughts to ourselves.

    Looking back to the past of your life is not the only way to understand coming of age. Coming of age needs a direction to go, so it can continue to progress. At the every end of the book, Benji presents his ambitious hopes and goals for the future, "I'd be sixteen in November, old enough to get into  CBGB's and Irving Plaza. Finally start seeing some concerts. Go to more parties. That was the key. I had to go to more parties. Other schools' parties, where I had no rep. Crash, whatever. Lay off the Cokes. I could do it. It was going to be a great year. I was sure of it" (328,329). As I mentioned previously, coming of age is not just about where you have come. Coming of age is a process that needs tracks laid ahead so it knows the direction to follow into the future. Benji's internal monologue on the last page allows us to see the tracks being laid ahead. 

    I found this aspect of the book particularly interesting, as I am in an important phase of my own coming of age which is graduating high school. Using Whitehead's method of combining retrospect with a gaze into the future has allowed me as a reader to review my own coming of age and think about where I want to be in the future so I can lay down tracks to follow.

Thanks for reading

-Pieter Duursma

Comments

  1. Jonathan ChenMay 19, 2025 at 9:51 AM

    Hi Pieter, I think something that relates to this is how the narration sometimes switches from past tense into present tense to call to attention the narrator. Essentially this books is a story about the past, present, and also possibly the future. In doing so we are able to see the character grow from an adolescent all the way up to an adult.

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  2. Connor G.May 20, 2025 at 1:12 PM

    Hey Pieter, I really liked your blog post about the theme coming of age. I like how Benji always looks back at his older self, just as Ben looks back at Benji. Its cool how we see Ben from multiple stages in his life. Great Post!

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  3. RicoMay 20, 2025 at 9:18 PM

    You do a good job of relating the theme of coming of age to quotes from the book, and indeed Sag Harbor provides both reflections on the past while looking ahead to the future. The book has such an unorthodox timeline yet it definitely embodies the coming of age idea quite well.

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  4. MitchellMay 21, 2025 at 4:31 PM

    I also love the passage where Ben comments on how HE can "listen to" young Benji and learn something from his trials and tribulations, but this poor kid can't hear a word he is saying. This is obviously true, of course, and it reflects what you say about how coming-of-age is only understood in retrospect. But I am fascinated by the thought-experiment, as Benji tries to imagine the guy who HE "replaced" standing on the sidelines watching HIM waste his time standing there trying so hard to look cool. I can't help but wonder what my fifteen-year-old self would think if he could talk to me, and I can't help but wonder what YOU imagine when you try to project your own older self. What WOULD you say to him, if you could? What would you want to HEAR from him?

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  5. MahdiMay 24, 2025 at 7:21 PM

    Hey Pieter, I like how you compared the narration style of Sag Harbor with the other books. I agree that the mixture of present narration and retrospect makes the coming-of-age clearer, though I think there are times where it does the opposite. Sometimes Ben and Benji seem like completely different people, and the reader is left to wonder how this extreme shift happened in the character, as the book makes it clear that this one summer was not enough for that transformation to happen. Overall, great post!

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  6. JayMay 27, 2025 at 6:30 AM

    Hi Pieter, I liked how you talked about the CoA process and your current role in that process as a graduating senior. CoA seems to be more of a conveyor-belt than anything, slowly progressing--often in larger, more discrete steps-- toward the future, evolving with every moment. The summer at Sag acting as a catalyst for reinvention is also interesting; it's just like how your time at Uni made you want to become a pilot. :)

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