Best Bros Forever?

Best Bro’s Forever?

Benji and Reggie, the two brothers. From the very beginning, this book depicts how close they are, both in age and in friendship. However, as the book continues, it expands on their relationship to show how divided they may be, and how that divide was widening as the two grew up. 

To first emphasize how close these brothers were, right after Ben introduces himself, he introduces Reggie. He says, “My name is Ben. In the summer of 1985, I was fifteen years old. My brother Reggie was fourteen. (Whitehead, 5)” Thus, he indicates that next to his name and age, the most important detail he should share about his life then is his brother’s name and age. To further show how close him and his brother are, Ben says that “ We ( Ben and Reggie) were born 10 months apart, and until we went to high school, we came as a matched set, more siames than fraternal or identical, defined by an uncanny inseparability (6)” .  Thus, he indicates how close their friendship was, to cause them to want to stay together so often and to even identify as more inseparable in the soul rather than through looks or blood.

However, Ben soon indicates their growing divide. At first he starts off with miniscule details such as one in R2-D2 jammies and the other in C-3PO jammies ( 8). Then he later explains how their appearances start to change, and finally, he talks about how the two started to mentally or spiritually grow apart when he went off with Lisa Finkelstein (9). Then later on in the book he indicates through more subtle hints of how Reggie had perhaps grown more cool than him, through Reggie's decision to stop using his bike and start caring about his shoes (29-31). This division grows as the two go off to work, and the shifts drive them further apart. Then, Reggie decides to partner up with someone from work, rather than Benji for the gun war  (183). This indicates a significant mark of their separation as one would assume the kids described in previous chapters and termed inseparable, would immediately want to stay by the other’s side. Furthermore, the divide between them is later shown, as during Freshman year, when Reggie and Benji’s father called Reggie “Shit Head” for a year. Benji did nothing about it, and was even glad that his brother was the scapegoat instead of him (193). 

I think that these divisions though sometimes sad, present a critical aspect of coming of age. Relationships with people, even the ones you deem to be the closest too you, may not continue to hold so strong. The world may tear you to different jobs and schedules, providing physical separation. It may cause you to like different things and thus spend your times differently. It may give you hard decisions, and sometimes instead of choosing to sacrifice yourself and stay true to that connection, you may choose to save yourself. Growing apart from people is an aspect of growing up. Throughout this book, Benji and Reggie's apartness have indicated mile markers in time passing, and their becoming different people, not only physically, but also mentally. Furthermore, I think the focus on the connection and the original division shows that each person is their own person to some degree and no matter how close a relationship may be, there will always be some things pertaining to one person rather than another.