Guilt in "A Visit from the Goon Squad"

            I tracked the word “guilt” in my reading of Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Good Squad, figuring that in a novel full of compulsive characters, guilt-worthy actions would feature heavily in the plot. After going more than two hundred pages without encountering the word however, I was somewhat nervous about my word selection, and upon finishing the novel, I had only seen it three times.

            The first mention of “guilt” occurs in the chapter “Good-bye, My Love,” in which Ted travels to Naples to search for his runaway niece. While in Italy, Ted takes full advantage of its art and wishes that a “slightly different version” (209) of his wife Susan were with him to see it. This Susan is a “knowing woman with who he could speak without speaking,” (210), unlike the real Susan. Yet as he wishes for this, Ted undergoes a “seizure of guilt” (210) knowing that it was he who demolished the passion in their relationship, fearing it “might have crushed them both” (210). While visiting an art museum, Ted is especially affected by a relief of Eurydice saying goodbye to her husband before descending into the underworld, with an “absence of drama” and recognition that “everything is lost” (214). It is clear that Ted is comparing the work of art to his marriage, in which Susan slowly, quietly adapted to the unhappy life he created for her.

            Another two pangs of guilt are felt by Alex, who is employed by Bennie to “parrot,” or enlist people to create artificial word of mouth for a washed-up performer’s concert. Alex has long resisted the music industry’s corruption despite being a musician himself, but due to some restlessness and desire to work with Bennie, he sells out and accepts this job. To allow others to avoid the “guilt of parrothood” (319) he feels, Alex works to create a system where none of his team of fifty “parrots” knows that there are others like them. On page 328, Alex again feels guilty for not telling his wife about his new position for fear that he will be judged for focusing on music sales rather than quality.    

A similarity I noticed between the two guilt-feeling characters was that they both began outside the music industry in a way, Ted through his occupation as an art history professor and Alex as a musician who claims he has never succumbed to the pressures of the industry. Perhaps it is this that allows them to focus more on their families and relationships instead of profiting from the industry, so they feel guilty when things go awry.

And what accounts for the dearth of guilt in the novel? Certainly all the characters make regrettable decisions, but in terms of their reactions to decisions, I believe that the characters feel “shame,” which involves an embarrassment for the self, more than guilt, meaning remorse for previous wrongs they have done. For instance, Dolly does not feel guilty for scalding countless celebrities at her gala, but ashamed of her event gone wrong and lost reputation. Other than Ted and Alex, all the characters in the novel have a knack for not dwelling on the damage they have done to others.