‘Jasper Jones’ and ‘Jindabyne’ are two influential texts that raise questions about issues that are affecting many Australians past and present. The texts highlight the issue of racism using the characters Jasper in ‘Jasper Jones’ and Susan in ‘Jindabyne’. The texts are able use these characters to successfully challenge the audience views on racism and how it effects individuals and society.
‘Jasper Jones’ is a novel written by Craig Silvey in 2009, set in 1965 in a small town named Corrigan. The one overarching theme that Silvey addresses in ‘Jasper Jones’ is the idea of growing up and the loss of innocence that occurs with growing up. Silvey explains that there is living like an adult and being an adult, living like adults is having no critical filter and still follows the same lifestyle they did as a child, while becoming an adult is having a critical filter with the ability to challenge ideas etc. (Silvey, n.d.). This time period was strategically chosen as this was considered the time Australia grew up. Silvey also created the characters, such as Jasper around the theme of growing up. Jasper
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‘Jasper Jones’ challenges the idea that Australia is a mature nation and suggests that it can’t be with issues like racism still present, while ‘Jindabyne’ challenges the idea of everything is fine in Australia regarding racism, when really these issues are still prevalent. The issue of racism causes both Jasper and Susan to be represented very similarly in both texts, Jasper being positioned to be seen as lonely and Susan being represented as helpless, they are both without support due to the issue of racism. This shows the effects that racism can have on individuals in society, they become singled out without any help or support. Both texts have been successful challenging the ideas of the audience in relation to the treatment of
Australian people and culture are often stereotyped in the media in different forms, one of them being film. The two films being examined, ‘Red dog’ (2011) and the ‘Sapphires’ (2012), are an example of the Australian identity but from different points of view. ‘Red dog’ shows the kind and positive side which exemplifies mateship and loyalty. The film ‘Sapphires’ ,which takes place in the 1950’s through to the 1960’s, shows a negative and racist view towards the indigenous people. Both the films show different aspects of the Australian identity, not all insights of the films accurately represent contemporary Australian identity as the Australian identity has changed by the evolution of people and their lifestyle.
Charlie articulates how he “never understood why you would ever feel the need to shoot the fish in the barrel… (if) they’re in a barrel, you’ve already caught them… they can’t escape... why bring guns into it?” Silvey’s use of characterisation and first person point of view portrays Charlie’s realisation of the community’s racial prejudice towards ‘the other’. The “fish” is symbolic of Charlie and how he is different to the people of Corrigan; who are like vultures – constantly seeking the chance to attack those that are considered the ‘minority’. Charlie’s close friend, Jeffrey Lu, is a gifted and committed cricket player who persistently tries to get himself in the local team, however, due to his Vietnamese background, “he’s ruthlessly bullied and belted about by the boys at school.” The emotive imagery and alliteration of “bullied” and “belted” further depict Charlie’s internal conflict in addition to his realisation of the community’s racial prejudice towards the peripheral of society. The use of emotive imagery positions readers to realise the extent to which powerful words can have; causing readers to recognise how crude and harrowing humankind can be towards the marginalised. Thus, Silvey effectively conveys to the reader how the indigenous race were isolated from ‘white Australian’ society; how intelligent individuals were ostracised; and, how groups of people with racially different backgrounds were isolated from mainstream Australian society.
Good Afternoon teachers and students, The following texts express how an individuals understanding of belonging can quickly be changed by the people and place around them. “Jasper Jones a novel written by Craig Silvey”, it is a short story of a boy named Charles Butkins and the events that occurred because he helped Jasper Jones mask the death of Laura Wishart. “Australia by Ania Walwicz”, is attacking the people of Australia in the form of a poem, because of their point of views and attitudes in life. She also hates Australia itself because the people are not welcoming, this is the main point of this poem.
Jasper Jones is a novel written by Australian author Craig Silvey that follows Charlie Bucktin on his journey from innocence to experience as he attempts to solve the mystery of what he thinks is a local murder. There are three main factors in the novel that contribute to Charlie’s loss of innocence.
Another reason it important to study and understand Australian Novels such as ‘Crow Country’ is that it can help fight racism. In ‘Crow Country’, it is apparent that racism is a key theme of the book, as it has shaped many of the actions and turmoils in the book. Even the main murder in the book is because of racial prejudice, and it is something that shouldn’t be an everyday action in the world. An example of racism in the book is referenced when it was revealed that David was left nearly dead by Craig Mortlock and his posse when they had lured and beaten him up by the family lake. This happened not only because of the love issues, it was also partly caused by racial prejudice. If we had clear knowledge on the backstory and culture of Aboriginal
Discrimination in Australian society does cause people to behave differently. Discrimination doesn't only occur in the real world, but is also a common theme in writing. Deadly, Unna?, is a great example of a novel that clearly shows discrimination throughout the story.
The Aboriginal community of Australia has been subjected to a life of undeserving hatred and constant racism. And these two texts show that not much has changed for the Australian community to prevent and slow down the amount of racism towards the native Australian people. The first text, ‘Stolen Car’, is a short story set in Perth, written by Archie Weller, where the life of a native Aboriginal is just constant fear of the white Europeans and police. The protagonist Johnny is an 18 year old Aboriginal, who has come to Perth to ‘enjoy himself, then go home’. Little does he know he will be alienated by the harsh life of being an indigenous Australian in Perth.
It is crucial that we study Australian Narratives as it creates insights into events we may have not explored. This is evident in the novel "Crow Country" written by Kate Constable. It teaches us about Aboriginal beliefs and spirituality, Australia's History and respect, as we experience what it feels like to live in rural Australia, creating an understanding about Aboriginal people. Therefore, through a close read and study of "Crow Country", readers are able to learn new and important things about our past and present, showing that it is crucial to study Australian Narratives.
Phillip Gwyne’s novel, “Deadly Unna?” explores how the main character Gary Black, a white boy from the “Port” also known as “Blacky” grows up by not agreeing to racism. Blacky experiences prejudice and friendship from both the aboriginal and white communities. Blacky begins to develop a greater tolerance for aborigines and their culture, and then he further attempts to apply this knowledge to the intolerant and prejudiced town in which he lives. The boy who helps him shift in his opinion of aborigines is a local aborigine named “Dumby Red”, who lives in the aboriginal missionary “The Point”. Dumby is of Blacky’s Football team and helps Blacky in various ways to become more tolerant.
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey is a coming of age story that filled with suspense and mystery keeping us captivated till the end. Set in the 1960’s in an old mining town if Corrigan, where everyone knows one another. I certainly agree with weartholdcoat’s opinions on the novel, it’s a great thrilling read that keeps you completely hooked. Silvey uses various techniques like narrative and language conventions, theme and Australian context to achieve such a captivating finish.
In these novels the theme I chose was racial prejudice, were it also gives a message racism and how far it could go. Further into “From An Ordinary” it's
The Novel Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey revolves around a young boy named Charlie Bucktin living in the small Australian town of Corrigan in the 1960’s. Charlie is exposed to the confronting issues of racial prejudice, injustice and moral duality. He is challenged to question right from wrong, has to come to the realization that law doesn’t always uphold justice and we as readers are positioned to understand that people are capable of holding two conflicting values and remain in confortable harmony. The ideas are portrayed through Silvey’s use of narrative conventions that are used to either challenge or reinforce our values, attitudes and beliefs on the issues explored.
It is a natural part of human nature to long for the feeling of belonging, even if it means following a corrupt and unjust social regime. Craig Silvey weaves this idea into the novel Jasper Jones, in which the “half-caste” deuteragonist and protagonist Charlie Bucktin discover the death of the shire president’s daughter, Laura Wishart, and work together to find the culprit as to avoid the inevitable scapegoating of Jasper for this crime. Silvey’s implementation of the historical setting of the 1960’s introduces the themes of fear, racism within a social regime and scapegoating; these ideas relate to the racism present in Australia at the time, due to the reign of the White Australia Policy and the effect of the Vietnam War. By integrating these key ideas into the story of Jasper’s experiences with scapegoating, Silvey reflects on real-life examples of racism present in Australia during the 1960’s, as well as other developing nations, and how the need to impress others is the major drive for the wider
The key theme of racism that is explored in Langton’s writing affected me through these experiences, and changed my values when I went through these experiences. Once I had come to the realisation that the incident with the homeless man was most likely not due to his skin colour, I began to realise that I had begun stereotyping due to what I had heard and been exposed to - and I began making a conscious choice to try and find other reasons that a situation might have happened, other than to instantly assume stereotypes or racism. Langton also notes that in situations where an Aboriginal and a non-Aboriginal are engaging each other, they “will test imagined models of the other, repeatedly adjusting the models as the responses are processed to find some satisfactory way of comprehending the other”. This relates back to the key theme of stereotyping as each person is testing the way the other responds in relation to prior knowledge and potential stereotypes that they have heard - both forms of racism, in a way. My most memorable experience with this was when I was working retail, and an Aboriginal family were
Jasper Jones (2017) by Kate Mulvany has certainly influenced my understanding of 1960s Australian society. There have been many societal changes since that era, and this text helps me realise just how many there have been. The main changes I have noticed from the text include the text’s main themes of family, sexism, and racism.