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Jason Going Solo

David Mitchell’s Black Swan Green follows thirteen-year old Jason Taylor through 13 months of his adolescence, but beneath the surface of school drama and family complications, Taylor finds his own independence from the increasing absence of his parents. His growth can be seen in the evolution of his relationship with Unborn Twin and Hangman , internal voices in his head that make him stutter and mess with his conscience. From the earliest pages of the novel, we’ve seen Jason’s thoughts imprisoned by his own mind. In the“Hangman” chapter, a scene where his teacher Miss Throckmorton calls on him to spell a word in front of the class, he described his life to be divided into“ Before Hangman and After Hangman” (Mitchell 26). Despite his confidence – “Any duh-brain could work that out” – the word vanished from his skull, unable to produce the word when he heard classmates beginning to whisper to each other and laugh (Mitchell 26). What makes this moment more isolating is that Jason had ...
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How Bruce is Portrayed

I think the most interesting part of this book was the complexity behind Alison Bechdel’s dad, Bruce. From the first page of the book, in the picture frame for chapter 1, we see him depicted as this grueling depressed man standing in front of their house in a stance that showcases power but then in the following introduction of him, we see him as a caring father figure playing with Alison (Bechdel, 1). There are countless scenes throughout the entire book that involve grief, regret, and confusion between Alison and Bruce. During the first chapter, Bechdel gave us a good overall dynamic in her family and it was nice getting to see this through a graphic novel with so many details in every panel. Especially when it comes to depicting Bruce’s obsession with furniture and the decorations around the house. Bechdel said “I grew to resent the way my father treated his furniture like children, and his children like furniture” (Bechdel, 14). It shows anger and confusion in the way that she wis...
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Parallels between Esther’s mental health and her narration

From our very first impression of Esther and the way she described what she saw of New York, we could feel how she felt unsteady in her life. After convincing Doreen to come with her to go out with Lenny and the guys, Esther is trying to lead the way into experiencing what it’s like to really embrace the atmosphere of New York city. She displays nervousness as they stay at Lenny’s apartment and soon become frightened by the reality of the sexual activity between Doreen and Lenny while they were still in front of Esther. During this phase of her life, it seems like she wants to be “cool” or step outside of the scholarship girl she was always known to be. I think throughout this entire book, we see Esther finding her actual personal identity through the choices she makes without involving the consequences of all other variables. One of which is when she comes back home to find out the news that she didn’t make the writing course. She says, “Then my mouth shaped itself sourly. I had expec...
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Holden's Imposter Syndrome

After leaving Pencey and recklessly running around New York, I can imagine Holden finally making up his mind to become the better version of himself. In the final chapters where Phoebe becomes a huge part of the story, Holden realizes that maybe there is more to his life than just calling everyone phony. Over and over again, we see Holden comply with everything that Phoebe tells him to do. This unconditional love for someone in his life kind of grounds him so that he doesn’t lose himself in his wild thoughts again. I think to extend the novel, he eventually gets diagnosed with imposter syndrome by Carl Luce's dad, the psychoanalyst mentioned at the end of the book.  During the interaction between Carl Luce and Holden, Holden demonstrates a rare interest that he had in Old Luce’s life which we have never seen with other characters. Throughout the entire conversation, Holden was trying to interrogate Luce’s personal life without thinking that he was being his own kind of phony. With ...
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