A Visit From The Goon Squad

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A Visit From the Goon Squad In Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad, she was able to use time, memory and her characters in a way that has never before been seen. Reading from the beginning one would never guess that the first chapter would be one of the last chapters in the book if it were placed in chronological order. This unique style is able to truly capture any reader and almost force this reader to outline or take notes, even though Egan herself strictly discourages it. Throughout the book one of the main characters discussed is Lou, a coke snorting, child seducing, music producer. Although Lou is mainly considered when talking about characters in A Visit From the Goon Squad, one of the most interesting characters in this novel is Rolph, Lou’s son. Rolph is uniquely used throughout the book as a time mechanism to delve deeper into the past or future throughout the novel. We first encounter Rolph in the chapter Ask Me If I Care. This chapter, which is told in the first person tense through the viewpoint of Rhea, introduces Rolph in an unusual way. He is first seen in the novel after Jocelyn finds a framed picture of Lou and his children, in which Rolph is included. Jocelyn then goes on to describe him as being their age, as going on the Africa trip and having, “blue eyes and black hair and a bright, sweet smile. I get a crawling feeling in my stomach. I go, Rolph is decent, and Jocelyn laughs and goes, Really. Then she goes, Don’t tell Lou I said that.” (Egan 55) When referencing the Africa trip, Egan uses Rolph as a device to link this chapter with the next chapter, Safari, in which Rolph is one of the main characters. Rolph is not mentioned another time throughout this chapter, or any of the early ones, but just a brief mention of him is used to explore deeper in the past of Lou’s family. In turn Rolph is also used

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