Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey 1. What is your initial response to the novel? Do you find it interesting or tedious? Does it remind you of any other stories? Explain why you think it is.
My initial response to the novel was an expectation that it would involve darker themes such as racism since one’s review on the book stated it as “An Australian’s To Kill a Mockingbird” alongside with a picture of a boy for the book cover which made him mysterious in a way for potential readers to be curious about. As for the first few minutes reading the novel, it started off rather tedious as nothing much was established in the story but after the first sign of conflict which ultimately is the driving plot of the novel did the novel became an interesting read. It starts off without a proper introduction rather just simply a phrase “Jasper Jones is here” creating this sense of mystery and curiosity for the readers which was quite effective in doing so. This novel shares certain elements to common crime and mystery novels. Elements such as the unknown killer, a progressive plot that cause readers to create theories on who is the true killer, and most likely a plot twist near the end where every major and minor event in the novel starts to make sense to the readers. The use of a limited first person point of view is also common in mystery novels since this certain point of view limits readers at the same pace with the protagonist as he/she attempts to solve the murder. 2. Explain what ideologies are constructed in the opening chapter pp1-52.
Jasper Jones is a character whose identity had strongly been created by the people of Corrigan. Charlie had barely known him yet he is fully aware of his terrible reputation of him. He is branded as a criminal and a rebel that parents had made him the bad model no child should follow. It had already become popularly accepted that anybody who had done any wrong was merely influenced by Jasper Jones. Thus with that idea in mind, children could be free from their wrongdoings by simply blaming all of it on Jasper. So as time goes on, Jasper’s notoriety keeps on stacking up and people still believed it was true. He was also a target of racism and discrimination which was clearly still rampant during the 1960s. Jasper was often called a “half-caste” (page 7) meaning half-aboriginal of descent. Further on, his tainted identity given to him was forever branded to him meaning that if ever he’d try to do the right thing or to speak the truth, people would never believe him.
Racism wasn’t only concentrated upon the Aboriginals but also to the Asians, specifically the Vietnamese. The text was set during the outcome of the Vietnam War where Asian immigration spiked and the Australians haven’t fully adjusted to this phenomenon. The family of Jeffrey Lu were defenceless to the discrimination given to them by some of the people of Corrigan.
Another victim of the identity set by the townspeople of Corrigan was Mad Jack Lionel. His whole identity had been created by rumours and gossips that it had eventually became the truth. Moreover, those speculations soon became fear, the fear of a serial killer hidden in his home. Rumours have been told that he had killed a woman, but nobody knew the circumstances he was in and as word has spread of this said event, people never fail to stretch the truth into what they think of him now. There even exists a popular test of courage which is basically stealing anything they could get from Mad Jack Lionel’s property. It is the fear of the said serial killer that the rewards became sweeter. Thus to whoever succeeded, he/she would be assured instant royalty.
Charlie had undoubtedly described Corrigan as a town where its social currency is sports (page 8). A reason that physical prowess is well acclaimed for is that Corrigan is a mining town based alongside a power station where it employs almost all the population of the town thus giving priority to labour than education. Finally, since the younger generation is easily moulded by the adults, a hierarchy is created among the youth where skill and physical prowess dominates over the intellectuals. 3. Who does Charlie represent and how does his character develop through the narrative. Justify your interpretation with examples from the text.
Charlie can be represented by someone who is out of the ordinary. The novel clearly makes wide distinctions of Charlie from every other character. He is portrayed as a stereotypical nerd who is significantly intelligent but lack in physical prowess. Charlie is fully aware of his capabilities and weaknesses such that he describes himself jogging like “an arthritic chicken” (page 3), and he recognizes the fact that he is lousy at sports but better than most in academics. Moreover, Charlie can also be represented as a refined person with an extensive vocabulary and a vast knowledge of literature. It is evident from his self-discussions of his favourite books, the manner of writing of different authors, and his articulated and proper conversations with other characters. This is heavily influenced by his father who now shares the same interest for literature. However given his uniqueness from the townspeople of Corrigan, he suffers from alienation. As he is aware that sports are the social currency in Corrigan, he then suffers from it in a form of alienation. Characters like Warwick Trent whom Charlie considers him his arch-nemesis (page 74) is socially accepted that even though he is “affront in academia” and that he repeated grades twice (page 75), he had strong physical body strength and is a member of the cricket team. It is during the time of the story that Charlie undergoes puberty or the adolescence stage. Charlie is shown to be shy when it comes to talking to girls and evidently during the attempted conversation between Emily Wishart and Charlie (page 73), Jeffrey teased him remarking ‘saving all your words for Scrabble?’ As the story progresses, Charlie then starts to have feelings for Eliza Wishart as he starts to recall memories of her when they’re separated from how beautiful she is to how her hair smelled. Charlie’s character continues to develop during his interactions with Eliza Wishart. He is now depicted as basically a boy in love where he even dreamt of creeping through her garden and tapping on her window similar to Jasper Jones (page 281). It is instances like this which makes Charlie more believable in the eyes of the readers.
Charlie’s character however develops not only through the common problems of growing up but ultimately through learning the harsh realities of life. Charlie now tackles extremely difficult subjects such as life and death, the existence of different forms of discrimination, and the sense of morality. An example was when Charlie questions the word “Sorry” that was etched on the tree where Laura hanged herself. He effectively contemplates on this idea giving reasonable judgement; he describes it being “Sorry means you feel the pulse of other’s pain” (page 263). This was an effective argument as readers are influenced by Charlie’s opinion. His perspective on that topic is further strengthened due to the fact that researched on notorious serial killers finding out why they committed these murders. Charlie didn’t exactly come up with the right answer but he developed the need to seek the truth. 4. How has contextual information affected your response to this text?
Contextual information regarding the circumstances during the text greatly affected my response creating valid justification to the actions of the characters. It is certain that the text was set in Western Australia sometime in the 1960s. The town of Corrigan has its distinct characteristics influencing its characters. One factor is the interpretation of Charlie that sports or basically physical fitness is the social currency of the town leaving the value of education worthless. With this in mind, the readers can understand the hardships Charlie faces given the fact that he doesn’t excel in those areas. Bullying is clearly an effect from this kind of mindset as the physically capable make fun of the weak and yet it is perfectly acceptable in the eyes of the youth of Corrigan.
Another contextual info which is a significant event in the Australian history was the Vietnam War. The outcome of the war forced thousands of Vietnams to flee eventually leading them to Australia. Jeffrey Lu, who is considered to be Charlie’s best friend is Vietnamese and so are his parents (validated on page 9). The text then describes the maltreatment and alienation given towards these kinds of people. Charlie had also recalled that “he’s (Jeffrey Lu) ruthlessly bullied and belted about by the boys at school” (page 9). Jeffrey wasn’t the only victim of alienation and racism as his parents were blamed without doubt on the disappearance of Eliza Wishart by some of the townspeople of Corrigan. During the meeting at the miner’s hall during the search, Sue Findley had intentionally spilt hot water onto Mrs. Lu blaming her for her hardships in life due to the Vietnam War (page 171). An Lu’s garden had been rooted out and vandalized by a few men claiming that they (Lu Family) did it, calling them “reds” (term for Communists) (page 269). It can be inferred that the people of Corrigan are easily frightened and will immediately blame the hardships in their lives to anyone they suspect wrong without any evidence (in this case, the Vietnamese).
As for contextual information based on biographical aspects of the author, a lot of similarities can be seen with the text and the author’s personal experiences and opinions. Basically, “Jasper Jones” follows the usual genre that Craig Silvey uses in his books which is Southern Gothic fiction. Elements of this genre include damaged and delusional characters, follows the idea of exposing the problems of society, and oftentimes the setting is somewhere isolated such as an orchard or a broken downtown. Regarding the personal experiences of the author, there are slight similarities between Craig Silvey and Charlie. Craig Silvey grew up in a small town; he described himself in an interview to be bookish, and even called himself an “effete” when it comes to physical labour. He (the author) started writing novels at age 14 which was oddly similar to Charlie wanting to create his own novel at his young age.
The author, Craig Silvey also emphasized in his book the discrimination towards the Aboriginals which likely led to the development of the character, Jasper Jones. The book, “Jasper Jones” was published in the year 2009; a year after the Australian Government issued a formal apology to the Aboriginals on the 13th of February 2008. The book can be considered a tribute to the Aboriginals as it aims to give proper respect to them which can be seen through Jasper Jones (who is half-Aboriginal in the text) displayed as a rebellious criminal who in an effort tries to redeem himself.
There is a use of contextual reference that interconnects the world created by Craig Silvey in Jasper Jones and the real world; the use of real-life murderers and serial killers. It was during Charlie’s search for the ultimate question on why people kill, that he ended up in a library looking up periodicals on notorious murderers such as Eric Cooke, Gertrude Baniszewski, and even Jack the Ripper. These uses of real-life reference create a sense of realism to the text and even possibly inspire readers to also find the answer to Charlie’s question.