14 lines
8.6 KiB
Markdown
14 lines
8.6 KiB
Markdown
#hs/lit
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The novel Black Swan Green develops the idea that while some things might change when you grow up, many problems remain and only change a little by using parallelism between the life of Jason and adults in his life. One of the points in the book where we can see one of the direct comparisons is on the trip to Lyme Regis when Jason gets back to the hotel with Danny Lawlor. Jason describes “One called out, ‘Daniel the Spaniel!’ and grinned the exact grin Ross Wilcox’s got” (pg. 176). This is an explicit parallel between the culture at the Greenland supermarkets and the kids at Jason’s school. Not only does Jason name Ross Wilcox, but he also compares the “exact grin” that the coworker had while talking. Danny is an adult in Jason’s life, but during this moment he realizes that there will likely always be a “Ross Wilcox” in his life. There are still some differences between this scene and the bullying from Ross Wilcox in Jason’s life since Danny Lawlor is able to fire back rather than staying quiet. After this scene Jason says that “Danny’s ace” (pg. 177) which shows that Jason looks up to Danny, likely due to him pushing back on his coworker. Even though there is still the same problem in Danny’s adult life, he handles it differently, showing that there is still room for Jason to grow even though he might face similar challenges. This same idea is explored a few pages later in this chapter when Jason and his dad run into Craig Salt. Jason asks his dad “It’s a type of ammonite, isn’t it, Dad?’ Dad wasn’t meeting my eyes. ‘If Mr. Salt’s sure, Jason -” (pg. 183). This reaction explores this theme in a more subtle way, and even though the comparison isn’t direct, there is still a clear parallel between the actions of Jason’s dad around Craig Salt and the ways that Jason attempts to conform to the ideas of others. With how quickly Jason’s dad abandons his own opinions in this passage, the author draws a parallel with how Jason blindly accepts the opinions of his peers. We can see this happening many times, such as when Jason tries smoking for the first time with Hugo. Jason accepts the idea that smoking is “cool” even though after trying it for the first time he doesn’t enjoy it and ends up puking. Even if the reason he accepts these ideas is because he believes he needs to be seen as cool by those around him, he still follows social norms in the first part of the book. This is very similar to the relationship between Jason’s dad and Craig Salt where Jason’s dad quickly changes his thoughts to externally match Craig Salt’s to socially conform and be accepted. This shows that even though the reason for conforming might change, there is largely still the problem of the need to conform to fit in when growing up.
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Another time in the novel when we see a parallel between the experiences of Jason and adults is when Jason is talking with some of the people in the Romany camp. At the end of the chapter, he says to them “They’re scared of you. They don’t understand you, you’re right” (pg. 241). He is realizing in this moment the many parallels between the situation he is in and the Romanies. Earlier in this chapter, there was a meeting at the town hall where the members opposed the creation of a camp because they were afraid of letting a group of people who are different than them live in their village. While the previous example of a parallel on the trip zooms out to the level of a relationship between two individuals, this chapter zooms out to the level of a conflict between two groups of people. Both examples are adult conflicts, and they show that the problems that Jason is facing when growing up are different versions of larger issues faced by adults. Earlier, when Jason first talked to some of the people in the Romany camp, he said that the other kids his age don’t like him because “I’m not one of them. That’s it. That’s enough” (pg. 238). This chapter in the book focuses on this concept of “not [being] one of them” by looking at a broader perspective of the town and drawing a parallel between the life of Jason and the conflict between the town and Romanies. By using these parallels, Mitchell is able to show the reader how the struggles Jason is going through are not unique to childhood. Learning to overcome these hurdles will help Jason to navigate similar obstacles later in life since many of the problems will evolve and never truly go away.
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| Question | Relevant Quotes or Page & Paragraph |
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| There are many things that David Mitchell does in the last chapter of the book to circle back to the start and earlier points such as naming the chapter “january man.” Do you think this strengthens the idea of Jason growing up throughout the book or harms it? | “I got to the lake in the woods and remembered the game of British Bulldogs we’d played here when the lake froze last January.” (pg. 284) <br><br>“The path back to the House in the Woods crunched underfoot. I picked up a perfect pinecone. Coming-soon snow’d shuttered up the sky” (pg. 290) |
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| At the end of the chapter “knife grinder” it seems like Jason gains a broader perspective on the cause of conflict in his own life and others. After this moment, do you think he applies any of the lessons he has learned in his own life? | “They’re scared of you. They don’t understand you, you’re right. If they could just ... Or ... it’d be a start if they could just sit here. Get warm, round your fire, and just listen to you. That’d be a start.” (pg. 241) |
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| It seems like Jason is only able to learn lessons about himself and grow up after he drops in social status to the lowest position. Do you think he would have had the same growth if he had stayed in the middle of the pack? | |
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| In the chapter “goose fair” Jason goes through a fun house where several different mirrors show him different versions of himself and say conflicting things. Do you think some of these things are more true than others, or do they each represent something else? What might the different mirrors represent? | “How about an Outside-You, suggested Upside-Down Me, who is your Inside-You too? A One-You? If people like your One-You, great. If they don’t, tough” (pg. 249). | |