In “A visit from the Goon Squad” by Jennifer Egan the main character, Sasha, at first, comes off as a selfish thief, but the items she steals make us look past her self-centered attitude. Sasha is a very troubled person who has a compulsive stealing problem. Coz, her therapist, believes that her problem has something to do with her father leaving her at age six. Sasha, obviously, has gone through a very tough childhood and by the fact that no one, not even her therapist (6), knows her real age proves that Sasha has not emotionally attached to many people. Sasha’s stealing problem isn’t like most because she doesn’t steal money or credit cards from people, she steals the personal items. Sasha has never been able to connect with people, so she
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Egan describes Sasha as feeling that “she needed to hold the screwdriver, just for a minute… And once the screwdriver was in her hand, she felt instant relief” (7-8). The screwdriver is what represented the plumber because every plumber needs a screwdriver to do his work. Sasha has nothing in her life that represents her besides the items that she steals, so she felt obligated to steal the screwdriver to make a connection with the plumber. After she took it, she felt relieved because it felt like her urge was satisfied and that she emotionally connected with a person. After she told the story, Coz asks her how she felt after stealing the screwdriver and she goes off about how she felt ashamed. We can sympathize with Sasha because we realize that her father left her at a very young age and she has not been able to make many personal connections with people due to that lack of trust. She makes personal connections in her own way and its unfortunate that the way she makes connections is through stealing. Sasha is, obviously, trying to fix her problem because she is seeking help at the therapist and she is expressing how she felt ashamed after she stole the screwdriver. I feel Sasha is a good person at heart; she just has a tough time expressing her feelings to people due to the lack of …show more content…
Alex notices the items in a pile and is intrigued by them. Sasha is feeling mix emotions ranging from a “load of embarrassments” (15) to feelings of “little triumphs and moments of pure exhilaration” (15). Sasha takes pride in the items that she has stolen; they are what define her as person because she has nothing else. When she sees that the items intrigue Alex, she gets overwhelmed as if Alex is staring at the “core of her entire life” (15), as if the items in front of Alex were representing everything Sasha feels. Sasha ends up having sex with him even though we know she doesn’t like him, this is due to a trust is established. Egan states “ Watching Alex move his eyes over the pile of objects stirred something is Sasha” (15). In this one moment, Sasha feels so emotionally attached to Alex that she is willing to give her whole self to him. Something has changed inside her as if she is a whole new person when she establishes emotional
Egan describes Sasha as feeling that “she needed to hold the screwdriver, just for a minute… And once the screwdriver was in her hand, she felt instant relief” (7-8). The screwdriver is what represented the plumber because every plumber needs a screwdriver to do his work. Sasha has nothing in her life that represents her besides the items that she steals, so she felt obligated to steal the screwdriver to make a connection with the plumber. After she took it, she felt relieved because it felt like her urge was satisfied and that she emotionally connected with a person. After she told the story, Coz asks her how she felt after stealing the screwdriver and she goes off about how she felt ashamed. We can sympathize with Sasha because we realize that her father left her at a very young age and she has not been able to make many personal connections with people due to that lack of trust. She makes personal connections in her own way and its unfortunate that the way she makes connections is through stealing. Sasha is, obviously, trying to fix her problem because she is seeking help at the therapist and she is expressing how she felt ashamed after she stole the screwdriver. I feel Sasha is a good person at heart; she just has a tough time expressing her feelings to people due to the lack of …show more content…
Alex notices the items in a pile and is intrigued by them. Sasha is feeling mix emotions ranging from a “load of embarrassments” (15) to feelings of “little triumphs and moments of pure exhilaration” (15). Sasha takes pride in the items that she has stolen; they are what define her as person because she has nothing else. When she sees that the items intrigue Alex, she gets overwhelmed as if Alex is staring at the “core of her entire life” (15), as if the items in front of Alex were representing everything Sasha feels. Sasha ends up having sex with him even though we know she doesn’t like him, this is due to a trust is established. Egan states “ Watching Alex move his eyes over the pile of objects stirred something is Sasha” (15). In this one moment, Sasha feels so emotionally attached to Alex that she is willing to give her whole self to him. Something has changed inside her as if she is a whole new person when she establishes emotional