Premium Essay

Jasper Jones

In:

Submitted By kayjay31
Words 1130
Pages 5
Bigotry and stubbornness are perceptible attitudes of small-town communities in 1960's Western Australia. The notion that the inhabitants of the tight-knit community of Corrigan are racist, prejudiced and ignorant is explicated in Craig Silvey's coming of age novel, Jasper Jones. The bildungsroman is narrated by Charlie Bucktin, an adolescent from the small town of Corrigan. Charlie becomes unexpectedly involved with a local indigenous boy, Jasper, as they set out to discover the truth about the death of a young girl from their community. Throughout this quest, Charlie comes to many realisations about life, ultimately, that society can be very cruel. The prejudism and ignorance of the tight-knit community of Corrigan manifests in the discrimination of ostracised characters. Silvey's narration evokes readers' emotions and manipulates their awareness of isolation, scapegoats and atonement; ultimately, causing readers to feel disillusioned about Australia's past and cruelty towards repudiated individuals. Although Silvey's text is a work of fiction, it indubitably reveals truths and makes real comments about the ethnocentrism that was ubiquitous in rural, Australian towns in the 1960's, thus illuminating our nation's history of racism and intolerance.

Isolation is a form of segregation of individuals who are ostracised in our prejudicially dichotomous society. The small country town of Corrigan, whilst merely a fictional creation, acts as a microcosm that exposes real truths; namely, it epitomises the idea of social ignorance and marginalisation of the minority groups in the coming of age novel, Jasper Jones. The theme of isolation depicts how Western Australia, during the 1960’s, was a time of supremacism whereby rural country towns, like Corrigan, were stuck in their ways, emphasising the importance of skin colour and racial background. The characters in

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Jasper Jones Prejudice

...In Jasper Jones we see as we read the book the ongoing relevance for all readers due to its powerful themes which are clearly evident in the book such as Prejudice/ Racism , Love and Guilt vs innocence and insights into society which creates a realistic plot which we as readers can sometimes relate to. In Jasper Jones as we read we see the world through Jaspers point of view, being a half caste and poor treatment towards him from his father and the police. The major themes that create ongoing relevance for all readers are Prejudice / Racism and Betrayal / Trust. In the novel, prejudice and racism is seen through the exclusion and poor treatment of the Lu family because of their Vietnamese descent. Betrayal and trust is a very important theme...

Words: 1236 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Jasper Jones

...we ignore it, because we want them to be who we want them to be.”. The main character of the novel written by Craig Silvey titled, Jasper Jones dealt with the troubles of, as Don Draper said, people ignoring who somebody is simply because we want them to be who we want. Set in 1965 in a small West Australian town called Corrigan, main character, Charlie Butkin is faced with the fear of being drafted into war with Vietnam and seeing his friends treated poorly by others because of racism. The novel kick starts, however, when Charlie is interrupted by Jason Jones tapping on his window asking Charlie for help with “finding” the Shire President's daughter, Laura Wishart. On the night that Jasper knocked on Charlie's window he asked for help, but what Charlie did not realize was that it would change his life. Jasper took Charlie to his secret hideout and showed him his darkest secret, which was the Shire President's daughter Laura Wishart hanging from a tree. Jasper had only found the corpse and was seeking the help of Charlie in finding who was responsible for the murder. In chapter 2, we are introduced to Eliza Wishart, the sister of Laura, who is Charlie's secret crush. Another character introduced is Jeffery Lu, one of Charlie's friends who had been experiencing racism because he as Vietnamese. Eliza, along with Jeffery Lu accompany Charlie and Jasper as they find the murderer. Throughout the novel the one suspect the boys had always had in mind was Old Man Jack Lionel, and planned...

Words: 752 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Jasper Jones Silvey

...to the reader for a majority of the book. However, when Charlie does enter the house, the reader is exposed to a new side of Jack Lionel and therefore exposed to a mood that contradicts the many false beliefs about him. Silvey carefully crafts this text to reveal a new side of Lionel through a specifically established atmosphere. In the text, Jasper Jones, Silvey...

Words: 1018 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Jasper Jones Quotes

...novel, Jasper Jones, examines the harsh but ever so present reality surrounding the issues of racism on individuals and communities during the 20th century. In 2001, prominent literary theorist, Lois Stover presented the view that the best young adult fiction confronts readers to consider the shades of grey that exist between the black and white of their own moral experience. Jasper Jones, by Craig Silvey, represents through certain characters in the novel, a coming of age story which forces readers to view the impact of prejudice on natural justice between the town of Corrigan in the 1960’s and in today’s contemporary society. Charlie Bucktin the novel’s moral guide and narrator, enlightens...

Words: 1001 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey

...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...

Words: 1956 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Jasper Jones Character Analysis

...In the novel ‘Jasper Jones’, the author, Craig Silvey portrays each and every character with their similarities and differences in contrast to each other. Jasper Jones and Charlie Bucktin are two protagonists and through the story Silvey displays that these two characters share similarities and differences between each other. A significant similarity between the two is that they both have trouble with or without their parents. Two differences between the two characters is their level of emotional strength and reputation in the Corrigan society. Jasper and Charlie both differentiate in regards to their emotional strength. Jasper is quite resilient and holds himself together no matter what he’s going though. “Jasper Jones has a terrible reputation...

Words: 827 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Jasper Jones Coming Of Age Quotes

...Jasper Jones is a transitioning novel that the author Craig Silvey has set in 1965, in the residential community of Corrigan; thick with mystery and questions. Charlie Bucktin, a pure kid at the youthful age of thirteen, has been compelled to develop and grow up after an extraordinary, challenging summer. With a little assistance from Jasper Jones, Charlie finds new information about the public and the apparently culminate town that he is living in, and additionally the general population that are nearest to him. The most imperative thoughts and issues that Craig Silvey depicts in Jasper Jones are: coming of age and identity, injustice and racism. While finding and confronting these new issues, Charlie and his closest friend Jeffrey Lu pick up a more prominent attention to human instinct and how to manage difficulties that life can toss at you. One of Silvey's thoughts in Jasper Jones is coming of age and identity; for this situation, Charlie has been tossed into adulthood and compelled to become out of his youthful and frightful self. Amongst the novel Charlie begins to develop confidence to defend himself. This change of actions happened because Charlie chooses to help Jasper: “But I don’t turn back. I stay. I follow Jasper...

Words: 887 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

A Gap of Sky

...“A Gap of Sky” by Anna Hope is a short story about a young girl caught in a dilemma between expectationsand desires. It is a portrait of a young girl on drugs and a description of what the city can do to a personwho stands alone without the support and care from other people. The narrator is third person andomniscient, and the narrative technique can be described with the phrase “stream of consciousness” whichis a technique that writer and feminist Virginia Woolf used a lot in her works. This “stream” is veryconfusing, because it describes the situation by every little thought of the persona who in this case is verydistractive and unfocused as a result of ingesting drugs - she changes her focus by the second.Ellie is a young student living in London. She has a lot of pressure on her shoulders because her parentshave made her take a course at the UCL which she is about to flunk if she does not hand in an essay aboutVirginia Woolf. Only, the problem is that she wakes up Monday at half past four in the afternoon realizingthat the essay, which she has not started yet, is due for Tuesday at nine.Her thoughts and actions are hectic and out of order. The hallucinatory drugs she has been taking and thealcohol she has been drinking all night make her unfocused, and as her printer has run out of ink, Elliedecides for herself that she has to go out in city to buy some ink before she can get to write the essay, eventhough all the stores are about to close.Ellie is as far from sober as she...

Words: 1151 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

A Gap of Sky Essay

...A Gap of Sky – Anna Hope A Gap of Sky is a short story written by Anna Hope. The short story is from 2008, and it takes place in London, England. The story is about a girl who has a lot of pressure on her shoulders from both society and family. The story shoes what environments can do to a person who stands alone without the support of family and friends. The story is written in 3. Person narrative, because the author describes the main character with words like she and her. Example: “…Ellie giggles. She touches the middle finger…” The author has written the story as a Stream of Consequences, which helps to give the impression that Ellie is under the influence of drugs. The character uses a lot of short sentences with only a few words. This makes the story more confusing and it often speeds up the action of the story. The sentences work perfectly with Ellies thoughts because they are short, hectic and out of order. A girl named Ellie is a student and the main character in the story. She is a troubled nineteen-year-old girl, who probably has a drug problem, I quote: “…Coke. Does she have any left…?” One day she wakes up in her bed at half past four on a Monday and realize that she has a very important essay due to Thursday and she haven’t even started yet. Ellie has not applied herself enough at school, and risks getting kicked out of school if she doesn’t hand in her essay assignment. She is still high on drugs and alcohol from the day before when she realize...

Words: 955 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Pop Art

...05/03/16 POP ART -realism had been gone for a long time but pop art brought it up -comprehensible, straight forward -Roy Lichtenstein - Robert Rauschenberg, canyon – abstract, consumer culture and materials of everyday mixed -tom wesselmann, landscape no. 4 – reproduces Mt. Hood (albert berstadt), typical landscape of foreground/middle/background, faces in car not carrying about the scenery of nature, car represents machine -mark Rothko -warhol’s 50’s work – contrast, rigorous serial composition, confident line work -andy warhol’s brillo box vs. duchamp’s fountain: -> brillo box just fake found object, no mediation, just the damn box but Duchamp turned urinal upside down to create interest ->brillobox stacked in gallery ->warehouse? -warhol starts to hand paint in 60’s -> later his style gets more edgy, sharp (tomato soup, etc) -everything you eat and wear, mass produced -pop art seem ambivalent, recognizable but hard to read the meaning -jan davidsz, sumptuous Still Life with parrorot vs. tom wesselmann, still life ->parrot still life is very realistic vs. flatness of t.w’s still life -> wildlife fruits vs. daily life packaged factory products -warhol’s Marilyn Monroe series: gold halo (her hair) represents the religious/celebrity, repetition represents exposure -warhol’s red race riot: mistitled this work, piece is about technology of production, we were made not to feel outraged of man’s inhumanity because the imagery makes viewers’ eyes move around...

Words: 281 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Pop Culture and Art

...Talia Wilburn ARTS/125 February 15, 2016 Pop Culture and Art Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg were a lot in a lot of different ways but what stands out is their use of everyday objects. They took things that we may not think are so artistic and turned them into masterpieces that can viewed throughout the world. Their subjects were a reflection of their era because they took things that regular people were using in their everyday lives and bringing them to life on canvases. America was coming out of the Great Depression and they needed something fresh to look at opposed to all the depressing struggle art they were getting used to. So by these two taking everyday objects and turning them into works of art, things that people could relate to. If I was creating my own art work from my daily activities the imagery I would use is life in the office since that is where I am most of the time. I would draw attention to computers and notebooks and all things that represent the office. Even the small things like keyboards, and mouse pads, notebooks, and paper clips. My life consists of a normal 9 to 5 in the office as an insurance agent I sit at a desk all day trying to figure out what’s the best option for people to protect themselves. I haven’t seen any art that draws attention to the office and it’s not that I really looked into it either but if I were the artist that is what I would want my audience to view. References (Writer). (2008, November 12). Rauschenberg and...

Words: 290 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Pop Art

... Introduction to Art 05/05/2010 Pop art is a visual art movement that began in the mid-fifties in Britain and the late fifites in the U.S. Pop art challenged tradition by saying that an artist's use of the mass-produced objects of popular culture is compatible with the perspective of fine art. Pop Art removes the material from its context and isolates the object, or combines it with other objects, for contemplation. The concept of pop art refers not as much to the art itself as to the attitudes that led to it. Many of the themes and techniques of this movement come from popular mass culture, such as adverstising, comic books, and other cultural items (Pop Art, in Wikipedia). A few of the important painters of this movement are Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol. In the sixties, a group of artists, led by Andy Warhol invented a “new American realism” called Pop Art. Pop represented American life at that time, with ubiquitous Campbell’s soup cans, Coca-Cola bottles, and comic strips. One of the chief tactics of the Pop artists was to “transform the everyday into the monumental”. According to Sayre, Pop Art left behind traditional artistic media like painting, and turned instead to pieces made with mechanical reproduction techniques, such as photolithography. These methods evoked commercial illustration more than fine art (Sayre, 512-13). Andy Warhol was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who became famous not only for his work in these...

Words: 761 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Jones Town- Jim Jones

...JONESTOWN- JIM JONES Jonestown- Jim Jones Student: Thi Nguyen Grand Canyon University: General Psychology- 102 Date: 08-19-2012 Professor: Jennifer Jones Jonestown- Jim Jones The tragedy named Jonestown happened in the past over 30 years and it still has been suspense from the bottom of the heart of everyone. Jim Jones is known as a American leader culture, is one of the most popular historian of America and Guyana’s history as well as the world’s history (Wilkinson, B, 2011). There are many books, articles, video clips described, discussed as well as argued about Jim Jones and Jonestown event. In this research paper as known as a social psychology essay , one more time, I would like write, persuasion, and argue about Jim Jones and what his had done in the past. Furthermore, the paper will describe and discuss in detail about Jonestown events and other concerned that related to this event which gave shock to American society, Guyana, and the rest of the world. Who is Jim Jones? First of all, I would like to introduce about him as well as his life. Jim Jones is a son of James Jones who had a poor health by poisonous gasses in the World War One; and he was a son of a woman named Lynetta in a factory in Indiana. Jim Jones learned from his Mom that he should love animal and care for the people who have underprivileged; and she expected that her son would come a ministered when he grow up. Even though Jim Jones was a noisy child...

Words: 2218 - Pages: 9

Free Essay

Paper

...Tahzma Wicker Ms.Pescia British Literature 29 October 2015 Unit 1 Essay: Evil in Literature Evil has taken over the world. It is a cynical type of way of expressing yourself. Evil is profoundly immoral. The concept is universal. It is one thing that most of the human society have in common. Evil can come from within a person’s soul, the hatred towards another, and the jealousy a person feels. One source of evil can come from a person’s soul. “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.” (Macbeth, III, I, 44-45) When one of the witches says that something evil is coming then Macbeth enters the room is the witches feeling the evil in their soul. Jim Jones said “To me death is not a fearful thing, it’s living that’s cursed.” (Jones, p. 2) Basically if you have a bad feeling about something 9/10 it’s going to become true especially if it is a bad feeling. Another source of evil is the hatred people have towards another person. “Out damned spot! Out. I say!” (Macbeth, I, I. 25) That is a quote spoken by Lady Macbeth, she is mad because her guilt is taken over so she is mad at herself. Another quote spoken by Lady Macbeth “What’s done is done.”(Macbeth, III, II. 8-12) meaning that she wants Macbeth to be king so bad that she doesn’t want to look back on the past. Certain characters have so much hate towards another that their willing to do the most demented thing to show vile. The jealousy a person feels can also be a root of evil. In the play Macbeth...

Words: 421 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Desperation

...After reading Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich and watching the documentary Roger and Me, it’s easy to compare the desperation the people seem to have in both of these circumstances. Barbara Ehrenreich wrote Nickel and Dimed to demonstrate the desperation of the jobs that an unskilled worker has. Millions of Americans work for poverty-level wages, and one day Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that any job equals a better life. But how can anyone survive, let alone prosper, on $6 to $7 an hour? Erenbeich decided to find out by actually living the life that people would have under these circumstances. She traveled to three different cities in which to work. The first was Florida, the second Maine and the last Minnesota. To make everything realistic she spent only money from her wages and nothing from her savings. While there, she lived in the cheapest housing and accepted work as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing-home aide, and Wal-Mart salesperson. She also found out that even the humblest livelihoods require strenuous mental and physical effort.. In a capitalistic society, where "unskilled workers" struggle to make ends meet, big companies continue to exploit their labor. The idea of reification also plays well into this story, where the amount of money received in wages is not an equal representation of the worth produced by the laborer, and the laborers act as if they...

Words: 1914 - Pages: 8