The Role of Perspective in Jason's Coming of Age
At the beginning of Black Swan Green, Jason’s world is narrow. The title of this book being Black Swan Green–the name of Jason’s childhood town–emphasizes how Jason’s small marshy town in the middle of rural England is his all-encompassing universe. He refers to a lake nearby his house as “THE lake,” he knows all of his neighbors by name, and the social structure among his school peers consumes him.
His world is not only physically small, but mentally as well. He accepts what he’s been told by the limited number of people in his life–that writing poetry is gay, that it’s weird to have a stutter, that England is the best and most honorable country, and that Romani people are polluting his civilized neighborhood with their savagery.
To me, one of the main arcs of Black Swan Green is Jason becoming aware of different perspectives and growing out of his town, both physically and mentally. While following the Falklands War between Britain and Argentina, Jason is initially completely gung-ho about it, treating it as a game that Britain deserves to and most definitely will win. He unquestionably reads the Daily Mail, taking every article about England’s success and Argentina’s villainy as objective fact. However, when the casualties of the war pile on–including someone from his hometown–and Julia makes him question the validity of the Daily Mail and war-time national news, Jason’s blind patriotism morphs into skepticism. A similar process occurs with Jason and the Romani people staying on the outskirts of his town. Initially, all he knows is the hatred that the majority of the town has for them, and that they are classified as dangerous free loaders. However, when he stumbles into their camp, he bonds with the community, and says that the animosity between his neighborhood and the Romani people could be solved by just sitting by the fire together and talking.
His final form of growth comes through how much he values his classmates and their opinions. While he is terrified by the prospect of becoming a laughing stock at his school for most of the book–hiding his stutter, hyper analyzing every social interaction, and constantly performing– once he becomes socially ostracized, he eventually learns to just be authentic, confident, and unashamed of himself, which actually leads to his popularity improving. However, by the end of the novel, he doesn’t care about his popularity, because he no longer places such a high value on it.
Jason’s growth culminates in him moving away from Black Swan Green, literally expanding his world. Leaving Black Swan Green and all of Jason’s changed mental perspectives I mentioned represent his coming of age story.
You make a really good point, and I love how you structure Jason's coming of age around his world expanding. I never thought about it as his world expanding but it does make sense with Jason growing to empathize with the Falkland's and the Gypsies which then correlates and adds to Jason's coming of age.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. Growing up in a small town myself, it really is your entire world when you don't experience much else. Becoming aware of the world that surrounds you expands your outlook on things immensely. Jason is a much stronger and stable person by the end of the novel.
ReplyDeleteI think the physical "smallness" of his town and community makes a big difference in how limited his world-view and perspective is on life. As he matures, he begins to see things in a broader, more intentional way, without blindly following things that happen. He also begins to get experiences outside of his physical comfort zone, including moving, which I think marks his coming of age and entering the real world outside of his bubble.
ReplyDeleteFrom seeing how people in Black Swan Green behave towards people who are not like them or are social outcasts, it's really easy for Jason to fall into the habit of throwing people into boxes and making blanket assumptions about them. However, he's incredibly sensitive to people's feelings and sees the world not as black and white but understands that everyone has different stories and that they're united by common humanity. We first see this in his ability to question the point of the Falklands War - is England truly the good guy that's fighting for its dignity or is this just another stupid war to salvage the remaining bits of the Empire while killing thousands of people for a political gain. His ability to see Ross Wilcox as not just a bully but someone who is impacted by his home life and lashes out at school speaks to his perspective on trying to understand people beneath the surface level. This also makes him a lot stronger in dealing with the tragedy at the end of the novel.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that perspective is a very important part of Jason's character, and he lacks a ton of it in the beginning of the book. Thankfully, he is challenged by people like his sister, and he is able to grow into a person who is confident in his own beliefs and opinions. Eventually, he is able to stand up to the people that bully him and gain his own sense of confidence.
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