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 no one to share these struggles with, not at home and no friends to turn to. His parents were consumed by the quiet unraveling of their own marriage, too distracted to notice Jason’s struggles, leaving him to carry the weight of his stammer alone.
As the novel progresses and his parents start to separate more noticeably, Jason is left to navigate life without guidance. Rather than retreating more inward, something shifts in his perception. As he starts to spend more time on his personal adventures, like going to the graveyard to become a spook and making friends with Dean, it marks a turning point of his growth. In one of the novel’s most telling scenes of his independence, Jason talks back to his dad’s boss Craig Salt after Jason’s nose was hit by him while jogging. He responds to Mr. Salt, “trucks aren’t allowed down here” (Mitchell 183). He does not suppress the impulse the way he once would have. He acts upon the comment directly with no hesitation, despite knowing it was more out of character for him. Later on he expresses his disappointment by his dad’s vulnerability to Mr. Salt, “the dad out here and the dad in the fossil shop just weren’t the same person” (Mitchell 183).
Perhaps the clearest signal of Jason’s transformation comes in the novel’s close, when Jason visits Mrs. Gretton and realizes “I hadn’t stammered once, the whole time I’d been talking to Mrs. Gretton” (Mitchell 289). The thirteen-year old boy who once divided his life into “Before Hangman and After Hangman” has overcome Hangman’s hold. His parents’ emotional unavailability subtly forced Jason to become his own guidance. Hangman and Unborn Twin, once his prison and only companion, gradually become just voices he learns to answer on his own terms. Jason Taylor did not grow up because someone showed him how. He grew up because no one did.
Jason being his own guidance was difficult for him and I guarantee that's part of the reason he developed such a close relationship with his sister as the book goes on, but it also gave him the opportunity to learn what he values and who he is. He was forced to be the mature an in his household and be stably there despite the challenges he was facing in his own life. He will be better off in the long run for this but it is a shame he missed some essential parts of his childhood. Well done, Helen!
ReplyDeleteHi Helen, this was a really great blog post! I agree that the separation of Jason's parents had really left him alone with no guidance, and as such, he starts to seek his own adventures. Meeting Madame Crommelynck and getting invited to join the Spooks seems like formative moments in which Jason must shift his perspectives on what he views as wrong, what is right and what is important to him. I think it is interesting how you relate Jason's stammer to his progression, and I agree that as he has grown up and learned to stand up for himself, he has less of a fear of Hangman. Cool post!
ReplyDeleteHey Helen! I really enjoyed reading your post, and I thought your focus on Jason’s growing independence was especially thoughtful and well explained. Your connection between his parents’ emotional absence and his changing relationship with Hangman and Unborn Twin felt really insightful, and it made me wonder if Mitchell is showing that Jason’s independence is both painful and necessary at the same time. Overall, very good blog post Helen!
ReplyDeleteHi Helen! Your blog is very interesting! I really liked your connection of Jason's life being before/after Hangman and now that he has overcome Hangman. This could be categorized as a coming-of-age trend so perfectly. In addition, I think it's very significant that you highlight the fact that his closest relationships failed to give him proper guidance. Jason, more often, shared his vulnerabilities with a lot distant people, such as Madame Crommelynck, which weren't very consistent. I think this may have contributed to his slow gaining of independence.
ReplyDeleteIn this arc of Jason's emerging independence, I would add the curious scene in the Hall of Mirrors in "Goose Fair," when Jason "meets" Maggot in the distorted and spineless reflection of himself ("I always wondered what you look like"). In this same scene, he seems to outgrow the obsession with pleasing others and defining himself through others' lenses when he ponders what it would mean to have his "Outside-You" match his "Inside-You." You're right that these imaginary antagonists (Unborn Twin, Maggot, Hangman) are more significant authority figures in Jason's life than his parents, and while this has something to do with the erosion of the marriage over the course of this year, it also reflects a certain picture of 1980s parenting more generally (we'll see an even more laissez-faire attitude in _Sag Harbor_, set in the US in a similar time period). I'm always struck by how little in this novel Jason's parents are even aware of--think of the moment just as he's about to leave for school on the nightmare day in "Hangman," and he's just about to share his terrors and anxieties with his mother, but they're in a hurry and he doesn't know where to start so he just forgets about the idea. By the end of the book, his Dad *finally* acknowledges that "some bullying" has been going on at Jason's school--he learns about the "Maggot" chapter months after it happens, and not because Jason has chosen to share.
ReplyDeleteImagine Michael or Helena reading this book, and how dramatically Jason's account of this year would differ from their recollections. But Unborn Twin, Hangman, and Maggot know ALL about it. That's who Jason really needs to declare independence from.
Hey Helen! Your last line about Jason growing up because no one showed him how kinda hit, because it's such a sad but accurate way to describe his whole arc. I also really liked how you tied his parents' emotional absence to him slowly learning to deal with Hangman on his own, since it makes his growth feel less like a sudden change and more like something he was forced into. The Mrs. Gretton moment at the end is honestly such a quiet but huge win for him too. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Helen! Adding on to your point, I think another important theme is how Michael and Helena's emotional unavailibility contributed to the development of Jason and Julia's relationship. Their bond is definitely strengthened by their parents' troubles, and by the end of the book, it seems that Julia has begun to be more of an influence/guide in Jason's life than his parents (take, for example, the scene where she tells him that Eliot Bolivar should continue writing poems). Great blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Helen! I love how you touched on the scene with Jason and his father talking to his father's boss. I think it's so interesting to see Jason's newfound straightforwardness juxtaposed against his father's own mask, which is so evident that it is noticed by Jason himself.
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