Why Jason is my Favorite Main Character So Far
By the end of Black Swan Green, I was struck by how much I liked Jason as a person, especially in comparison to other main characters from this class. Jason’s central conflict, Hangman, is an invisible force that remains in his head and can trap him. This makes his daily life a constant battle between what he wants to say and what he’s able to express. His connection to poetry is literally because of the fact that it’s the only way he feels like he can speak. The tension creates an intense narrative mostly made up of factors in his own head, especially in the beginning, where even small victories feel monumental.
Unlike the other books, Jason is a character entirely within childhood and its problems. The bullying and the weird but accepted social hierarchy is a familiar part of the childhood experience. There are a lot of relatable moments that feel like they’re coming from a middle school kid. You’re immersed in confusion, shame, and fleeting triumphs as they happen, and every chapter is completely different and feels like a new chapter to conquer. A big part of this is that Jason also desperately wants to be higher in the hierarchy and feels like he’s failing. This desire for connection, even at the potential of rejection, makes him feel more vulnerable and a lot more human.
I found that a lot of the things I didn’t like about him– example: “Umbrellas are gay!”--were largely due to societal circumstances and not any personal interpretation, and that he often goes along with things without knowing what they mean. He’s evidently very confused about how to treat girls, and tends to copy what others do at first. Also for example, when Jason makes the distinction that both the gypsies and the English townspeople are alienating each other unnecessarily with no prompting, it shows that he is able to critically think about society and also has a good moral compass.
The big thing that I liked about Jason as a character was that his arc wasn’t based in the same path as the Bell Jar and Catcher in the Rye— the feeling of doom that continued as the book went on. While there were definitely some horrific chapters towards the end of the book (ex: maggot) the story is more about the growth of his mindset rather than the worst things possible that happen to him during the declining state of his main issues, ending the book on a consistent few chapters of hopefulness rather than just a chance of hope.
Jason to me was also an easily loveable character. His experiences related to the modern teenage experience quite a bit despite happening in a completely different country and time. His journey had a positive ending and he had a clear development over time. His mental development was one unlike the others and similar to the average child's journey. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThat's so true! I didn't really think about it, but I agree that BSG had a lot more hope and felt the most relatable. I cried at the end—but not out of hopelessness; I cried simply because the story felt like such a realistic depiction of the change that comes with coming of age (and with life). I also agree that Jason has an amazing moral compass, which definitely helps the reader empathize with him. He seems so huggable. If he were real, of course. Great job Penny! #notdime #notquarter
ReplyDeleteHi! I agree that this book had a much more hopeful tone than the others. I think that it does help that his coming of age was more constricted to one year, but also that he wasn't as mentally ill as the others. His struggles didn't seem to come from a disorder, mostly external circumstances. And I do think it helped that he, from the start, felt he could win somehow; whether it be conquering the social ladder, or winning over hangman, he definitely had a more hopeful tone.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Penny! I really like your sentiment here because I too enjoyed the rather wholesome, childish nature of Jason and his problems. Without undermining the depth of the turmoil he faced, I too felt that the heavier themes of the previous books we read seemed to establish contemplating suicide as a part of "coming of age." While this is an unfortunate reality for many people coming of age, I also enjoyed how this book focused rather on how he dealt with familiar struggles involving friends and school, issues that seem childish in comparison to the other books, but familiar and relevant all the same.
ReplyDeleteHi Penny, I'm completely with you in liking Jason :D I feel like Jason's experiences really capture what it's like to be a young teenager. His overly high self-awareness, one-sided crushes, and chaotic (and simultaneously loving) relationships with sibling and relatives all feel like very authentic parts of childhood. This story really felt like a light breeze after the heavy topics discussed in previous novels. Great blog penny!!
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ReplyDeleteI also felt like Jason was my favorite character. Especially when compared to Holden Caulfield who I at times just wanted to put my hands on both both his shoulders, shake him violently, and ask him when he was going to grow up. I also did feel like Jason Taylor was relatable.
I feel much the same way about this character, and I agree that it has something to do with his remarkable capacity to find areas for growth through his at times horrifying experiences and his emerging capacity to view those experiences through a critical lens. It's always tricky early in the novel, when Jason is making these absurd declarations of "fact" like "wooly hats're gay," for me to not say TOO much about the fact that, at this point in the novel, he's asserting all manner of dubious "facts" based solely on the prevailing authorities in his local community--the "hairy barbarians." Pretty much all of the potentially obnoxious things Jason says can be traced to the bad influences of this community, and by the end of the novel (in one of my favorite of the many "threads" of Jason's coming-of-age) we see he's much more comfortable hanging out with his nerdy crew (Dean, Floyd Chacely, Dean's little sister) and no longer striving for inclusion in the hairy barbarian crew. That is to say, we like him more and more as the novel goes on. And since Julia is, for many of us, the moral "North Star" in this novel, it's significant that she too likes him more and more as the novel goes on.
ReplyDeleteHi Penny! I agree that Jason at times seems much more relatable than the characters' of other books we've read. I'd add that it might also be due to his distinct way of self-analyzing. Unlike the other characters who often hint around their strangeness and experience in "coming of age" Jason often explicitly talks about how he knows he's being "dumb" and how he's simply doing it to "fit in." Great blog!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog Penny! I also loved reading from the perspective of Jason, also for the reason that I felt Jason's "unreliable narration" was much more valuable as a tool for analysis than many of the other novels we've read. While perspectives like Esther's or Alison's were warped and biased (of course for valuable literary reasons), Jason's story was more unreliable in terms of omission of important events, which I think taught us a good lesson about what adolescent experiences are really like! I also agree that his journey is considerably less gloomy, which makes his a more satisfying character arc.
ReplyDeleteHi Penny! I would say out of all the books we read, BSG was my favorite. I found the perspective of Jason to be a little more fresh. Though he had his downright depressing moments, his thoughts seemed more mature than a typical 13-year-old's, most likely because of his experiences, like his stutter. I also liked that underneath the boy trying to act tough and fit in, was a well-versed poet. I agree he had a moral compass unlike the other kids, and that led to him being more likeable in my opinion. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Penny!! I really enjoyed your blog. I completely agree with you that Jason is a loving character. To me, I found it surprising that I was very invested in the story in a different way than I did the other books because I was so invested in Jason's journey. Good Job!!
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