Guns and Masculinity in "Black Swan Green"
In the novel Black Swan Green, the protagonist, Ben/Benji, is shot in the eye with a BB gun while playing around with friends as a teenager. The BB projectile is in his eye to this day, although mostly concealed. The fact that Ben still has the BB in his eye might signify how the past (his childhood) still has an effect on his present adult life. It is a reminder of the scars of childhood can stay for long periods of time, and that everything that has happened to Ben in the past makes him who he is today. Furthermore, the BB gun incident exposes the ambiguities of masculinity and what it means to be a man. Before the fight, Benji wants to wear goggles, which the other boys deride him for, calling him unmanly, saying “I’m not wearing any p****-ass goggles” (Whitehead 183). Benji ends up not wearing the goggles, showing that he values masculinity—or the perception of it—over his idea of safety. The goggles can be seen as against masculinity because they show that one is afraid of be...