Grilling and Greatness

    In the chapter, To Prevent Flare-Ups, we learn more about the family dynamics of the Cooper household. Especially the relationship between Benji and Reggie with their father. We first learn that Reggie is fairly absent in the relationship at the moment because of his purposeful avoidance of his father. This puts extra stress on Benji and we can view Benji’s alertness and attention to all his father’s actions throughout the chapter. 
    Early in the chapter, Benji tells us about the haircuts his Dad used to give him. Benji describes his realization that his haircuts were not as good as he had thought. It was the first time his haircut “ritual” had been disrupted, and someone else had cut his hair. Benji and Reggie used to long for haircuts and craved the undivided attention they got during the haircut. Haircuts were the only time their father performed a planned act of service for them while giving them his full attention. However, he also explained how the process of asking for and receiving a haircut was stressful. They had to methodically plan when to ask and concentrate hard not to move when their hair was being cut.  “But when he was done, it was perfect. Like when he grilled-you had to admit that despite everything, he was a master grilling”. Benji explains that although the process was unpleasant, it was justified by the result of the haircut. Eventually, Benji realizes the haircuts are bad, and it was no longer worth it to get haircuts from his Dad, so he allows NP to cut his hair. 
    Another “ritual” described in the chapter is Benji’s dad’s grilling. Mr. Cooper is well known for his grilling and it is mentioned by many other people in the chapter. Neighbors, family friends, and even Benji’s friends talk about Mr. Cooper’s great grilling. However, after thoroughly describing his father’s entire perfected grilling process Benji does not praise the chicken. Surprisingly, Benji says, “It was like biting into sand. The juices had boiled away or splattered the coals, leaving these dried-up shreds sticking to the bone”. I think, similar to the haircuts, the ends of grilling no longer justified the means. I think that the negative and stressful process of his father’s grilling spoiled the result for Benji. 
    On the second to last page of the chapter, I was confused by a seemingly out-of-place paragraph. While everyone is getting their food, and Benji is discussing how other people weren’t interested in what goes on in their house, he abruptly changes subjects to talk about his haircut again. “You have a fucked-up haircut and everyone knows you have a fucked up haircut. But no one says anything. You don’t know you have a fucked-up haircut, or know it and can’t admit it.” The intersection of the topics of grilling and haircuts seems bizarre at first. However, both are described as rituals of Benji’s dad and something Benji had previously praised him for. Both grilling and haircuts were things that Benji had thought his Dad was great at, whether it was because others had told him he was, or because he thought he thought it was great himself. However, his Dad’s greatness starts to fade as he gets older. Benji starts to identify the flaws in his dad’s behavior and the flaws in the outcomes of both his grilling and haircuts. I think that this realization of the imperfection of your parents is often present in coming-of-age novels.