Jason and The Bully
In Black Swann Green, Jason is constantly aware of his social presence. This translates to the clothes he wears and the things he says. Throughout the story, we see Jason moderating his actions and dialogue in order to fit in with the rest of his classmates. Although he tries his hardest, kids his age still ruthlessly bully him for having a stammer. Jason spends a lot of his year dealing with the bullying, but it isn't until the end that he starts to stand up for himself. Jason starts to ignore the insults made at him by simply waiting for the bully to be done and not saying anything back. By doing this, whatever a bully says to him starts to have less meaning and affects Jason less. Slowly, Jason starts to gain some confidence at school. Jason's growth can be considered a coming-of-age narrative. In the beginning, Jason exudes little confidence, which makes him an easy target for bullies. When a bully sees someone who they think will react strongly to their harassment, it makes the person a much more enticing victim since the bully is looking for the biggest reaction for their satisfaction. When Jason stops reacting or thinking of something to respond with, he lowers the chances of getting picked on, as he provides no gratification for the offender.
Jason's confidence gets a significant boost when he finds Ross's lost wallet. When Jason finds Wilcox's wallet, he has two choices: keep it and the copious amount of cash within, or he could return it to Ross. At first, the thought of keeping the wallet to get back at Ross for everything he has put Jason through might seem like the optimal decision. However, We later learn why Ross has so much money in his wallet. Since Ross's dad gave him the money because of his tax evasion, the punishment for losing it would undoubtedly get Ross in a serious predicament with his father. This newfound information sways Jason to choose the more ethical path and give the wallet back. For a second, Jason had all the power to make Ross's life a living hell. Jason almost does not know what to do with this moment of power. In the end, he returns the wallet, and when he does, Ross interrogates him, asking if he's stolen any of the money, indicating that even though Jason was kind enough to give the wallet back, Ross still has no respect for him. All Jason can think of in response to Ross is "poor kid." Jason knows Ross would be in deep trouble if he didn't get his wallet back, and even though he puts up a tough exterior, he feels a sense of relief inside. Jason feels bad for Ross because of his abuse at home, which prompts him to return the wallet and think of what would happen to Ross if he didn't. Ross will always be Ross; there's no way to change him because he'll always need to bully others to feel better about himself. Ross is a bully because he is bullied, and he'll unfortunately stay within that vicious cycle.
Despite Ross's constant insults, Jason has taken major steps toward becoming more confident and resisting bullying. He is totally different from we first met him in January, and he has gotten to a point where he lets unborn twin speak his mind, which might be the source of his new attitude.
Great Post! I totally agree with you that Jason is another person at the end of the book. I think his development in the book is definitely a coming of age and really shows his kid to teen growth. I also agree on the Ross Wilcox part because I think that Jason does have to choose between both options but ultimately decides to give it back to him. Ross does stay the same throughout the book which makes sense because bullied people do tend to bully other people. Overall I really liked your post.
ReplyDeleteFor sure, I think Jason definitely enables his bullies by trying to suck up to their standards, allowing them to gain more satisfaction from his distress when he is worried he might not meet these standards. His decision to return the wallet is also definitely a power move that not only shows him that Ross isn't as powerful as he thinks but also gives him the power to choose the moral high ground and no longer enable his bullies.
ReplyDeleteI think Jason's confidence is the most important part of his 'coming of age' arc. I think people that are around him are all able to measured on a scale of confidence, such as Hugo and Julia. I think Jason's ability to be the bigger man and also gain confidence despite the bullying is at the heart of his coming of age narrative. Great post!
ReplyDeleteJason has definitely made a lot of progress in his coming-of age story and the events you mentioned really show that. If he really wanted, he could have let Ross suffer or gave the wallet back to get some favor from Ross but instead, he did it based on his morals. This shows a lot of maturity from Jason and shows that he's growing a lot faster than his "hairy tribe of barbarians". I like how you mentioned how Jason not reacting doesn't give the bully any satisfaction and thus, makes them stop picking on him. Jason also increases his confidence by embracing his identity, leading to him getting a higher social status as well. Nice post.
ReplyDeleteJason falling into line with what the bullies want really does enable them, but the wallet really defines the boundaries of what they can and can't do to him. The fact he returned the wallet without taking anything means they have no reason to do anything to him, showing that Jason has the moral high ground. We know if Ross was in that situation, he would have taken all the money, but Jason is better than him. Good post!
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