Jasper Jones Essay

Charlie knew in his mind that if it was anyone else he would have never snuck out his window that night. Although then he wouldn’t of had to look past Jasper Jones to reveal his horrid secret. The book “Jasper Jones” is about a 13 year old boy named Charlie Bucktin who

Charlie changes over the course of the novel by changing the way he writes, talked to people, and listens to others. (Pg. 1 “I had a test today. I think faled it…”) (Pg. 246 “ I want to know if you feel any gratitude for all the things that have been done for you…”)

Although fictional texts are simply narratives, the characters and ideas presented within them have the ability to reflect a particular period in time and the attitudes and beliefs associated with it. The coming of age novel Jasper Jones, written by Craig Silvey, follows the journey of Charlie Bucktin, the thirteen-year-old protagonist, who is forced to rethink his traditional notions of right and wrong, after a tragedy opens his eyes to the world around him. Throughout the novel Silvey brings to light issues concerning morality, justice, and humility, by discussing them from the perspectives of certain individuals including Charlie, Jasper and Jeffrey. Overall it is these representations that provoke audiences to question their own morality, and to question the prejudices present in society during that era.

If Jasper Jones hadn’t shown me the cigarette burns on his shoulders just hours before, if I hadn’t touched their ugly pink pucker with my fingertips, I wouldn’t have suspected this man to be the monster he was’ (p. 160) Charlie’s mother, Ruth, cultivates her image as a good mother and citizen, member of the CWA and volunteer for all manner of civic events. She demands obedience and respect from Charlie and is capable of a quasi-hysterical response when she doesn’t receive it. Yet she is carrying on a clandestine affair with an unnamed man from the back seat of a car. Charlie’s disappearance compromises Ruth’s image: ‘I’d shattered the facade, I’d sullied the family name and her repute. Tongues were wagging. Aspersions were being cast like dandelion spores on hot gossipy winds. The CWA brigade and the badminton babblers were tutting like vultures. I was no longer a model child and she was no longer a model mother. And a snide, petty part of me was thrilled about it, almost proud’ (p. 198-199) When Charlie finds his mother in a compromising position with a man who is not his father it shifts the power balance between them (p. 244). At this moment, Ruth loses her moral authority over Charlie and in some ways Charlie ceases to be a ‘child’. He must assume responsibility for his own moral stance. Pete Wishart, Laura and Eliza’s father, is probably the most hypocritical character in the novel. Whenever Charlie mentions him, he almost invariably remarks that he is

Now to illustrate Craig Silvey’s construction of Charlie, his gradual moral evolution can be metaphorically depicted in an ethological social hierarchy – a wolf pack. Yes, you heard me right. Just like how an innocent wolf cub listens to the pack, Charlie initially follows the prominent morality and beliefs of Corrigan. As a wolf matures, it challenges the members of its pack {start fake howling}, similar to how Charlie challenges the conventional morality of the town. Eventually, Charlie can be represented as an alpha

In a community of inhumanity and antithetical views where people are judged by their name, race or religion Craig Silvey has directed four intentions that I believe are the ethics that give this its story identity. The first two are that people may be living a whole new world and could have secrets they have to cope with. This is to say that they are distraught with fear, intruded by a messy state of mind or have relationships that go a bit pear-shaped from external forces. This is clear to Charlie Bucktin from the starting point where he got exposed to a mystery and the impacts it had on his life. The concept “The further away you are, the less you care” is shown in the book as an attempt of making the reader sense the reality of feelings. This is shown in the book when Charlie thinks of his friends relatives who died in the Vietnam war, and although he described it seemed the least violent thing that bothered him, it was clearly the worst. Another moral I extracted from Jasper Jones was that mysteries or even everyday comprehension could be from unconfirmed sources, accounts and neighborhood testimonies that shelter the actual truth. Mad Jack Lionel a proposed antagonist in the book was being treated as a Mad man and serial killer, when in fact he was just an brittle but polite old man who killed Jasper’s mother-Rosie Jones in a car accident and was scarred by

Eventually, Mary Elizabeth forgives him. It is about time for Sam, Patrick, and his sister to graduate and for his favorite teacher to leave. Charlie starts to wonder how he will cope with the loss of his friends yet again. Then, he learns of the hidden horrors of his childhood and becomes indisposed with the knowledge of his molestation. Charlie is sent to a hospital where he gets help in rediscovering who he is. Following his release, Charlie is much better at creating relationships and is more hopeful for the

Charlie Kelmeckis is described as a “wallflower.” He is socially awkward and likes to keep to himself. He also really enjoys reading and writing. Charlie cares deeply for others, but has a lot of guilt about past events. For example, Charlie believes that the death of his Aunt Helen is his fault, because she was killed in a car accident on an errand to get Charlie a birthday gift. Charlie has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Anxiety, and Depression. His mental instability was mostly caused by being sexually abused by his Aunt Helen before the age of seven. Charlie experiences flashbacks of his Aunt over the course of the movie, but all are portrayed in a positive light.

People believed that Charlie was artificial, man-made, a lab rat. Professor Nemur thought that he had created Charlie, and that he was nothing before the operation “It might be said that Charlie Gordon did not really exist before this experiment…”. Charlie was a human before and after the operation “I’m a human being, a person with parents and memories and a history and I was before you ever wheeled me into that operating room!”. (p.161) As Charlie began to grow mentally and become intelligent, his understanding of the world became clearer than before. Although he could understand reality, he couldn't understand his feelings. Charlie thought he could understand his feelings but he really didn't, especially love “Something inside is burning me up, and all I know is it makes me think of you.”. Later, as he continues to grow, he decides that he could let his feelings rule him only during his relationship with Alice but not during anything else. He realized that he really loves Alice because his feelings and emotions go wild when he's with her. Also because he sees the old Charlie when he's with her helping him realize he loves her. Charlie loved her enough to let her go because he didn't want her to see him deteriorate. Charlie decided to go to the Warren Home because he

Silvey shows this racist prejudice towards one of the main characters, Jasper Jones. After meeting Jasper Jones one night and discovering his secret, Charlie Bucktin (the main protagonist) discovers how prejudice and racism affects a person and their view of the world. Using language, irony, metaphors and the climax, Silvey introduces Charlie Bucktin

Through the memories the Charlie Gordon has had since his surgery, he has revealed many new and exciting feelings in himself that he has never felt before. When he got upset at one of the doctors during his second inkblot test, he described his anger as exciting. Another emotion that we also noticed in Charlie is love and compassion. On page 82, he goes on a date with his teacher, Alice and he soon realizes that he has feelings for her but can’t seem to build up the courage to kiss her. When he finds out that Alice doesn’t have the same compassion for him, he starts to hate her. Since feelings are all very new to Charlie, he does not know how to react to them. One of the important memories that Charlie had was when he was listening to his parents argue. Charlie was sitting on the floor playing with one of his toys while his parents were fighting about Charlie’s

However, Charlie’s willingness to engage himself in school events ultimately provides healing; whereas Holden remains stagnant from grief. First, Charlie takes the initiative to be more involved in school. In his first attempt at becoming more outgoing, he meets Sam and Patrick, who later become his best friends. Later, at a party Charlie cries out of joy when Sam and Patrick introduces him as their friend and cries even harder when all of their friends make a toast to him. He says, “I don’t know why they did that, but it was very special to me that they did” (Chbosky 38).

He’s putting a façade on to win back his daughter despite the bitter and angry tendencies that remain. Charlie’s final words do little to assure the reader that he is a changed man. His want for his daughter is shifted back to his guilt over his wife’s death. He believes that “Helen wouldn't have wanted him to be so alone”

All of what Charlie desires does seem positive, but with Charlie’s new knowledge his personality begins to change. Charlie is not as kind and has an inflated ego, and tends to be a bit entitled at times. This is a drastic change in character, and every character around him seems to notice, a colleague of his states, “You’ve become cynical. That’s all this opportunity has meant to you. Your genius has destroyed your faith in the world and fellow men.”

People like Charlie tend to get their emotions out of control, they get frustrated and upset easily, they have loyalty towards a person as long as they view the relationship as useful and they are constantly preoccupied with themselves. Charlie battles with the emotions he feels after he starts to get flashbacks of his childhood. “He stands there, frightened by the sudden outburst. He cowers, not knowing what she will do. His body begins to shake.