At the beginning of the summer, Benji says that his friends every year grow more into their identities:

Bobby returned with a more refined version of his misguided Black Panther-ness, as interpreted by a privileged Westchester kid who hadn’t read that much. NP reappeared with a more durable clown persona, getting the gestures and punch lines down, understanding the pauses and various cues that trained your friends and family into being your audience. Everybody on their own trajectory, although we sometimes intersected (84).

By the end of the novel, what is Benji’s “trajectory”? How has he grown into his own identity by the end of summer?

The title of the book Sag Harbor emphasizes the significance of setting in this novel. Contrast the two main locations, Sag Harbor and Manhattan, that Benji considers home and their effect on his identity.

The other integral aspect of the setting is the time period, the 1980s. The novel is strewn with extremely detailed references to 1980s entertainment, such as movies (Star Wars, Road Warrior, and Raiders of the Lost Ark), television (The Cosby Show, Good Times, MTV, CNN),