Black Swan Bean
Jason's character growth in Black Swan Green isn't anything special to be honest. It is well written and natural, but it has nothing peculiarly remarkable in my opinion. Jason grows from a closeted and timid straggler into a unbarred and proud individual. It's fun to follow Jason's journey, but little can be really reflected upon or evaluated unless we compare it to some other character's development. That's why I'd like to talk about what I believe sets Jason apart from other coming of age protagonists - his perspective.
It feels like every two chapters or so, Jason will have a remarkable insight that makes me stop reading for a bit to wrap my head around how a 13 year old just sead something more profound than I could ever think of. What comes to mind as I say this is the scene where Jason demolishes Neal Brose's calculator. He has two rules, being to #1: not think of the consequences, and #2: to do it till it's undoable. This example doesn't really demonstrate how profound Jason's revelations are sometimes, but I chose it because A) it's what I can remember and B) it was strangely relevant to what I was experiencing at the time. When I was reading it, I was under a mountain of late work, and I had a project where there were high expectations that I didn't know if I could meet. As I was reading this chapter, Jason's attitude of doing something both without regard for the consequences and also until it can't be taken back helped me to ignore the expectations of others and to just unapologetically do the best I could.
The reason why I enjoyed reading Black Swan Green so much is because of instances like the one I described before. Jason's perspective was always strangely relevant to mine, either in the past or the present. I even started looking for a sequel at the end of Black Swan Green because I thought reading about an older Jason might give me a sneak peek into my future. While unfortunately there is no sequel, Jason's decisions and perspective in this book have led to a good deal of introflection on my part, and hopefully I will make better decisions in the future because of it.
I think Jason's coming of age feels so natural because it is very gradual and he is a character that many of us can relate to or see ourselves in their shoes. In the other books we have read, the characters are not really a general audience, they are an undiagnosed Holden, a clinically depressed Esther, or a guilty-over-the-suicide-of-her-father Allison. Jason is just a kid who is getting picked on. I think the book was pretty well written but I do not like how it ties everything up in a neat little bow at the end.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, I think Jason's coming of age was definitely following a more normal and relatable cycle, but that's only because it was easier to connect with Jason's experience coming out of being bullied to being accepting of who he is and gaining self confidence along the way. I too feel like this allows more readers to enjoy the novel and relate to it as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the other replies, that Jason's coming of age was much more general, as opposed to being relatable to a niche audience (depressed people and... people with fathers who died in ambiguous ways? I'm not sure about that last one). But I think that's part of why I liked this book, because there were some moments I really related to. The part in the hall of mirrors really spoke to me, and I think it probably speaks to many people who have faced the popularity dilemma.
ReplyDeleteJason's coming of age was definitely more normal and not anything special, but I think that's a good thing. It's hard to relate to journeys that are too different from most of us, and easier to connect to a kid telling you a story. Sometimes it gets a little cliché but it was a nice refresher as something more relatable.
ReplyDeleteThere is *currently* no sequel to Black Swan Green, but I did mention in class that I read in an interview (probably 10 years ago now) that David Mitchell had been working on or planning a sequel in which Jason is the father of a 13-year-old. As a former 13-year-old who is also now the father of a 13-year-old (and a former 13-year-old who is now Julia's age), I have obvious interest in such a book. I have heard nothing about it since! Keep your eyes out at the bookstore--years from now, if you see a new David Mitchell novel, check it out and see if it's got a Dad named Jason Taylor in it.
ReplyDelete(We do get a kind of "sequel" to Hugo's chapter in Mitchell's 2014 novel _The Bone Clocks_, in which Hugo is a truly terrible university student who, it turns out, is also an immortal demon who exists to torment people on earth [or something like that--it gets weird]. At one point he recalls with pleasure the time he made his gullible 13-y.o cousin puke on his first cigarette.)
Yeah I felt that Jason's coming of age story followed a typical arc. However, it was still exciting to read about his experiences and his thoughts during those experience. Even though I am certainly no 13-year old british boy, I I too could relate in some strange/subtle way to Jason's thought processes and his experiences with truth + consequence. I agree with Essra and Jake, I liked that the book was more cliche because it allowed for relatability.
ReplyDeleteI can see where you're coming from about how the coming-of-age of Jason isn't much special, someone even wrote a blog about how similar it is to Fun Home. It's a timid boy learning to be proud and individual. I also had the same respect for the book's writing and characters, however, as it added so much. It's cool to hear how his experiences applied to your real-life situation immediately, though I do hope you start to ease off on the high-expectation mountains of work you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI think Jason has shown some character development, which as you mentioned was becoming more confident. Although that doesn't seem like a big deal, I feel like it is kind of a relatable experience to people. Also, I think if you're used to reading books with giant plot arches, then this one may seem minuscule. However, I believe it is still relevant and I think it might feel bigger if we walked in his shoes.
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