Craig Silvey’s novel Jasper Jones, tells the story of Charlie Bucktin, a precocious and bookish 13-year-old boy who lives in the fictional Australian town of Corrigan in 1965. In the middle of the night, Charlie is awoken by outcast Jasper Jones, who shows Charlie his horrible discovery. Carrying this burden while being harried by a suspicious town, Charlie has no choice but to grow up quickly and let go of his childish innocence.
Silvey begins to express this idea of losing innocence through Charlie’s understanding of society. Charlie’s morality begins to change when he finds out the truth about the police in Corrigan. His initial naivety is expressed when Jasper first shows him Laura’s body, where he says, ‘We go to the police! That’s …show more content…
He starts to realise that the two people he thought he knew the best in Corrigan may not be who they seem. Charlie has always had an uneasy relationship with his tempestuous mother Ruth, and resents her for her strictness. This is intensified when Charlie discovers her affair. He rebels against her, telling her ‘This means I don’t have to do what you say anymore’. This causes Charlie to question the moral authority his mother actually has over him. Contrarily, Charlie’s father Wesley is a calm man who is generally kind-hearted, yet Charlie dislikes that he hides his true beliefs at Ruth’s urgings. However, as Charlie and Ruth’s relationship begins to disintegrate, Charlie and Wesley’s grows stronger. In the middle of the night, four men start tearing apart the garden of the Lu family, who are Charlie’s Vietnamese neighbours. In a rural Australian town in 1965, the Lus are not often openly welcome in Corrigan. As the men start to beat Mr. Lu with the whole street watching, Wesley hurries over and intervenes. After this act of courage, Charlie sees his father as a different person. When Ruth leaves Corrigan, Charlie begins to describe his father as a ‘man of influence’ and acknowledges how he tried to shelter Charlie from the disruption and hurt caused by his mother’s departure. This causes the reader to consider the dynamics of family and how quickly they can …show more content…
Before meeting Jasper, Charlie, along with the rest of Corrigan, sees him as an unfavourable character. Originally Charlie describes Jasper as ‘… a Thief, a Liar, a Thug, a Truant. He’s lazy and unreliable. He’s feral and an orphan, or as good as. His mother is dead and his father is no good. He’s the rotten model that parents hold aloft as a warning: This is how you’ll end up if you’re disobedient…’. The use of syntax and imagery indicates that while this is what Charlie has been told by most of Corrigan, he is sceptical of whether this is true. Throughout the book, Charlie begins to understand Jasper, as he learns about Jasper’s past. By the end of the novel, Charlie has matured enough to understand why Jasper has to leave Corrigan. After Jasper and Charlie have uncovered the truth, Eliza still wants to turn Jasper into the police. At this point, Charlie realises that no matter what, Jasper will always be perceived as a bad person by everyone in Corrigan. Through this relationship, Silvey challenges the reader to question their perception of
Silvey begins to express this idea of losing innocence through Charlie’s understanding of society. Charlie’s morality begins to change when he finds out the truth about the police in Corrigan. His initial naivety is expressed when Jasper first shows him Laura’s body, where he says, ‘We go to the police! That’s …show more content…
He starts to realise that the two people he thought he knew the best in Corrigan may not be who they seem. Charlie has always had an uneasy relationship with his tempestuous mother Ruth, and resents her for her strictness. This is intensified when Charlie discovers her affair. He rebels against her, telling her ‘This means I don’t have to do what you say anymore’. This causes Charlie to question the moral authority his mother actually has over him. Contrarily, Charlie’s father Wesley is a calm man who is generally kind-hearted, yet Charlie dislikes that he hides his true beliefs at Ruth’s urgings. However, as Charlie and Ruth’s relationship begins to disintegrate, Charlie and Wesley’s grows stronger. In the middle of the night, four men start tearing apart the garden of the Lu family, who are Charlie’s Vietnamese neighbours. In a rural Australian town in 1965, the Lus are not often openly welcome in Corrigan. As the men start to beat Mr. Lu with the whole street watching, Wesley hurries over and intervenes. After this act of courage, Charlie sees his father as a different person. When Ruth leaves Corrigan, Charlie begins to describe his father as a ‘man of influence’ and acknowledges how he tried to shelter Charlie from the disruption and hurt caused by his mother’s departure. This causes the reader to consider the dynamics of family and how quickly they can …show more content…
Before meeting Jasper, Charlie, along with the rest of Corrigan, sees him as an unfavourable character. Originally Charlie describes Jasper as ‘… a Thief, a Liar, a Thug, a Truant. He’s lazy and unreliable. He’s feral and an orphan, or as good as. His mother is dead and his father is no good. He’s the rotten model that parents hold aloft as a warning: This is how you’ll end up if you’re disobedient…’. The use of syntax and imagery indicates that while this is what Charlie has been told by most of Corrigan, he is sceptical of whether this is true. Throughout the book, Charlie begins to understand Jasper, as he learns about Jasper’s past. By the end of the novel, Charlie has matured enough to understand why Jasper has to leave Corrigan. After Jasper and Charlie have uncovered the truth, Eliza still wants to turn Jasper into the police. At this point, Charlie realises that no matter what, Jasper will always be perceived as a bad person by everyone in Corrigan. Through this relationship, Silvey challenges the reader to question their perception of