The importance of a little "time"

From pen strokes to letters, words, sentences, paragraphs, and chapters, a story is created.  Our basic understanding of a novel begins at the word level, where our reading of each word in sequence is what truly tells us what is going on.  Thus, the diction of an author proves vital in fine-tuning the expression of his or her ideas.  In the novel, A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, the word “time” is used carefully in a variety of situations to refer to different periods of time and to set up novel’s central metaphor.

Time is mostly mentioned as a synonym to the word occasion, and not as the concept of the linear sequence of past, present, and future.  As a synonym to occasion, it is employed to both recall the past and to hint at the future.  A token example of time being used to refer to an event that had already happened is when Scotty stared at the sun, “…the first time his mom went away,” (45).  The word time pinpoints when exactly Scotty’s love for his mom became apparent to those around him, in this case it was when his mother had first left him.  Time is also used by Egan to allude to future events.  In referring to Mindy’s future, the author stated, “For a time her life will be joyless…” (81).  In this instance, time is used to describe the small period when Mindy’s life will be miserable.

The central metaphor of the novel involves the word time as well.  When Bosco tries to persuade Stephanie to go back his idea of a documentary on his downfall, he mentioned that, “Time’s a goon…” (127).  The novel itself is named A Visit from the Goon Squad, and Bosco’s quote is Egan’s direct reference to the novel’s major metaphor: time is a goon.  As discussed in class, A Visit from the Goon Squad focuses on how time changes the characters’ lives.  Most characters end up for the worse by the end, which is why time is specifically compared to a goon as opposed to a more pleasant type of person.

Towards the final few pages, Bennie completes the time-related metaphor.  When he reasons with Scotty to go onstage and do his performance, Bennie gives new meaning to the metaphor:  “Time’s a goon, right? You gonna let that goon push you around?” (332).  Time is used yet again to refer to the book’s central theme, however Bennie expands upon it to comment on how time is something one survives.  The metaphor had previously been used to declare that time made peoples lives worse, but Egan, through Bennie’s words, expresses how the characters managed to (for the most part) not have their lives completely ruined by being “pushed around” by time.

Egan makes the word time a key component of A Visit from the Goon Squad by referring to specific moments in the characters’ and by being used in the novel’s main thematic metaphor.  Her careful diction demonstrates that “time” as a word is extremely important in the novel.