The Fathers of Benji and Jason

Both Jason's and Benji's dads don't exactly have perfect relationships with their sons. Both dads are also somewhat controlling. In Jason's case, his father is always ordering his mother around. He wants people to acknowledge him, such as when he acts up at the dinner with their relatives. He always wants to be correct. When Jason's mother messes up in redesigning the yard, Jason's dad immediately puts her down. At the same time, Jason's dad does care about Jason and Julia, such as when he defends Julia's choice of college and when he goes to fly a kite with Jason and spends time with him. In the end, I think Jason doesn't hate his father, but he definitely doesn't love him either.
As Benji said, his family was a Cosby family, perfect on the outside, problems on the inside. It is clear many of the problems have to do with Benji's dad. The rest of Benji's family have to "prevent flare-ups" by tiptoeing around Benji's dad. Benji's dad and Reggie also don't have a healthy relationship. Instead Reggie avoids his dad as much as possible and his dad calls him "Shithead." There is also the drama with the TV. It seems the main problem in Benji's family is communication. They are not able to talk to each other to solve their problems. Instead, they have problems like the TV, Reggie and his dad, and the fact that their dad is just not a good griller, but everyone is afraid to tell him so.
Although communication is mainly an issue in the Cooper family, the Taylor family also has that issue. With the dad hiding the financial records and the parents hiding the affair and the inevitable divorce from the kids (or at least Jason), tensions are only worsened. I think the main difference between the Taylors and Coopers is that the Coopers are already subdued and under the father. With the Taylors, Julia and their mother try to stand up against the father. Generally, it also seems that Jason's dad is more pleasant with his kids, although whether this is because he is guilty about the affair I don't know.
Both novels end with an anticipation of the future, but I think only one family solved its problems by the end of the novel. The Taylors are able to separate amicably and Jason doesn't seem too much worse for it. Benji on the other hand just doesn't mention his family dynamics in the end, perhaps because that's just the way things are and he sees no changing it.

Sag Harbor as a Coming-of-Age Novel

The ending of Sag Harbor makes me think this novel isn't really a coming-of-age novel. He has learned something about his community and his place in it; that much is true. In that sense he has gained a clearer sense of his identity. He has realized that the passing of Sag Harbor from generation to generation is in fact a cycle. He has taken the place of someone of the previous generation. Some kid will eventually take Benji's place. But I don't think he has come of age. And I don't think this novel was meant to be a coming-of-age-novel. Not too much happens plot-wise. Most of the novel is giving the reader descriptions of Sag Harbor, the people in it, and the culture. It's like Whitehead wants to show us the essence of Sag Harbor. But through showing how Benji describes the essence of Sag Harbor, Whitehead is able to capture the teenage spirit in one summer. This book is really more like a memoir. Whitehead uses just one summer to convey his point. Just like Benji describes the essence of Sag Harbor, I think Whitehead is trying to show the essence of being a teenager. And he does that very well.
All the growing and adapting that Benji does over that summer doesn't culminate to a coming-of-age. Rather, it is an example of teenage life, as teenagers are always growing (mentally and physically) and as they become more aware of their surroundings they must change.
Because this novel's purpose is broader than a demonstration of coming-of-age, I think more people can relate to it. Teens can look at it and see similarities in their current life. Adults can read it and remember what it was like being a teenager. In some ways, this dynamic is similar to that between the adults and kids in Sag Harbor. Both groups are part of the same cycle. One group takes over one stage while the other group moves on to the next stage.

Two Pair

Reading Sag Harbor, I realized that, in the beginning, Reggie and Benji are much like Lucille and Ruth. However, as the novels progress, the pairs diverge. In the beginning of Housekeeping, Ruth and Lucille are one. The term "we" is always used. Slowly we see Lucille and Ruth separate, such as when Lucille decides to skip school, but even then the separation is slow, as shown when Ruth joins Lucille in skipping school. Eventually, due to the influence of her friends, Lucille becomes thoroughly disgusted by Sylvie and her lifestyle and leaves. Lucille also tries getting Ruth to come with her, but Ruth refuses; she sticks with Sylvie. Ruth and Lucille go onto live vastly different lives, with Ruth joining Sylvie as a transient, and Lucille getting married.

In Sag Harbor, we are told from the start that Reggie and Benji are already separating. At first, they were almost identical; they were twins. Benji acknowledges the two of them separating, even calling it a good thing as he tries to form his own identity, but is still surprised by Reggie as he goes down his own path. Benji and Ruth are similar in this way. Both see their siblings changing, but don't really like it. However, I think ultimately Benji is fine with the change. He sees that his brother still cares for him, such as after Benji gets hit by a BB gun, and the separation is mutually agreed. With Ruth and Lucille, the separation is more strained, drawn out, and neither sibling is pleased with the other. Another difference is that with Benji as narrator, we get a clear idea of how he feels towards Reggie and a more defined picture of his and Reggie's relationship. In Ruth and Lucille's case, where Ruth is narrator, while it is clear Ruth does not like the separation, we don't get much detail into their relationship; it does not seem as complex as Benji's and Reggie's does.

Although Ruth's and Lucille's separation was painful, I hope to see Benji's and Reggie's separation develop into a positive and perhaps even greater relationship than the one they had when they were twins.