How does Craig Silvey use stylistic and language features to discuss themes in his novel, Jasper Jones? The novel Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey explores a range of themes through the use of stylistic and language features. Jasper Jones is narrated by Charlie Bucktin, a 14-year-old boy who loves to read books. One summer night, Jasper Jones pulls Charlie Bucktin out of his house and asks for help to clear his name of a crime he did not commit. As the story unfolds, Charlie discovers the complexities of the small town of Corrigan. Silvey uses stylistic and language devices such as rhetorical questions, repetition, sentence structure, and language to explore the themes of fear, racism, scapegoating, escape, guilt, and writing. Throughout Jasper …show more content…
This stylistic feature is often used throughout Jasper Jones, especially with the use of derogatory language towards minorities, such as Jasper and the Lu family. These terms used against the town's minorities reinforce how toxic the local community is towards people of different races. An example of this is when Charlie discloses to the reader while he is following Jasper into the bush, “Jasper Jones has a terrible reputation in Corrigan. He’s a Thief, a Liar, a Thug, a Truant. He’s lazy and unreliable. He’s feral and an orphan, or as good as that. His mother is dead and his father is no good. He’s the rotten model that parents hold aloft as a warning.” From this example, the repeated use of negative labels and descriptions towards Jasper who is a minority, supports the idea that he is an easy target and is constantly scapegoated by the community due to his race. These labels are based on racial stereotypes and are used to explain how the community treats Jasper. This quote also highlights the nature of racism and scapegoating within Corrigan and how harmful these phrases can be to individuals. Additionally, persistent repetition of negative labels and stereotypes directed at Jasper reinforces the nature of racism in Corrigan. Jasper is unable to escape these labels and stereotypes, so Jasper becomes a scapegoat who is forced to face constant discrimination from the …show more content…
Different sentence structures are commonly used in Jasper Jones to create the sense of urgency and confusion that is felt by characters as they attempt to escape their past and try to make sense of their emotions. For example, when the protagonist, Charlie Bucktin, is moving Laura’s body he explains how “I am dizzy and sick”. And it’s as though touching her has sealed my fate. I am in this story. She can’t be ignored. She’s a real man. I’ve touched her now. I’ve been privy to her last moments of heat, her last wisps of smoke.” The sentence structure in this particular quote plays a rather large role in showing the themes of escape, guilt, and writing. The use of short sentences that break up the text creates a sense of urgency and intensity, which highlights Charlie’s emotional confusion with the aftermath of Laura’s death. Furthermore, using descriptive language creates a clear sense of the atmosphere, allowing the reader to directly feel and experience Charlie’s emotions. The utilization of descriptive language constructs a visible atmosphere, enabling the reader to submerge themselves in Charlie’s journey. Through imagery, readers are able to sense and empathize with Charlie’s complex group of emotions. Overall, the sentence structure and descriptive language within Jasper Jones create a powerful portrayal of the themes of escape, guilt, and
The climax of the story is when Miles is shot by the Bonewoman. The reader comes to realize that Miles’ choice to live life on the safe side was a mistake:
Explore the way authors use character voice in both 'Jasper Jones' and 'Town' using the following passages as the basis for your response.
In the 1960’swhen the novel is set, black people were shunned and despised, and since he is a half-caste, Jones is immediately rejected. Also, because of his aboriginal relations, he is blamed for all wrongdoings in Corrigan (the town in which the novel takes place). The fact that he is an outcast attracts Charlie Bucktin to him as he is seen as an outsider too, due to him being more intellectual than sporty in a town where athleticism is highly valued. Charlie idealizes Jasper and his way of life and he seems to find a lot that they have in common as rejects- even though he doesn’t have to experience any form of racial prejudice nor any financial difficulties, and he doesn’t have to live on the streets. This goes to show that even people that look as though they fit in on the outside, may feel marginalised within society. Throughout the novel Silvey makes it clear that racism towards Jasper and to other characters is prejudicial and simply a result of people’s ignorance and their lack of empathy and understanding. These
I read the book Lonesome Howl, which is a drama book and a love story. The book was about two main character whose names are Jake and Lucy. They lived with their family in two different farms, but in the same community besides a mountain covered in a big wicked forest where many rumors took place. The farmers around the place lost many sheep’s since a feral beast. It was a quite small community and a lot of tales was told about it to make it even more interesting. Lucy was 16 years old and lived with her strict father and a coward of mom who didn’t dare to stand up for her daughter when she were being mistreated and slapped around by her father. Lucy was a retired and quite teenager because of that. She had a younger brother whose name was Peter. Peter was being bullied in school and couldn’t read since the education of Peter was different compare too Lucy’s. She helped him in school and stood up for the mean bullies, although all she got in return was him talking bullshit about her with their cruel dad which resulted with her getting thrash.
There are many ways in which we can view the history of the American West. One view is the popular story of Cowboys and Indians. It is a grand story filled with adventure, excitement and gold. Another perspective is one of the Native Plains Indians and the rich histories that spanned thousands of years before white discovery and settlement. Elliot West’s book, Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers and the Rush to Colorado, offers a view into both of these worlds. West shows how the histories of both nations intertwine, relate and clash all while dealing with complex geological and environmental challenges. West argues that an understanding of the settling of the Great Plains must come from a deeper understanding, a more thorough knowledge of what came before the white settlers; “I came to believe that the dramatic, amusing, appalling, wondrous, despicable and heroic years of the mid-nineteenth century have to be seen to some degree in the context of the 120 centuries before them” .
Jasper Jones is a coming of age novel that the author Craig Silvey has set in 1965, in the small town of Corrigan; thick with secrecy and mistrust. Charlie Bucktin, an innocent boy at the young age of thirteen, has been forced to mature and grow up over a life changing, challenging summer. With a little help from Jasper Jones, Charlie discovers new knowledge about the society and the seemingly perfect town that he is living in, as well as the people that are closest to him. The most important ideas and issues that Craig Silvey portrays in Jasper Jones are: coming of age and identity, injustice and racism. These themes have a great impact on the reader. While discovering and facing these new issues, Charlie and his best friend Jeffrey Lu gain a greater awareness of human nature and how to deal with the challenges that life can throw at you.
Racism and Segregation is a strong recurring theme in the novel Jasper Jones. Silvey has used Jasper, Charlie, and Jeffrey to convey the themes of racism through the book and to send an important message to the audience. He has shown us that making assumptions about someone based on rumours and appearances is wrong and that racism can rise out of ignorance. Silvey’s main message was that anyone can overcome racism and that it is just
Henry Ford is a prime example of a company unsuccessfully attempting to expand overseas. Ford realized that producing his own supply of rubber materials would drastically cut down on expenses and therefore make his own business much more successful. While Ford may not be the nicest or fairest man towards other people, everyone can agree that he has lived a very successful life, becoming famous for single-handedly revolutionizing the automobile industry. However, despite his success in America, his Fordlandia project abroad was a complete failure due to many reasons. As Fordlandia never justified its existence economically, increasingly it was billed as a civilizing mission to take American values to another country and its people.
The main character of this book is Susan Caraway, but everyone knows her as Stargirl. Stargirl is about 16 years old. She is in 10th grade. Her hair is the color of sand and falls to her shoulders. A “sprinkle” of freckles crosses her nose. Mostly, she looked like a hundred other girls in school, except for two things. She didn’t wear makeup and her eyes were bigger than anyone else’s in the school. Also, she wore outrageous clothes. Normal for her was a long floor-brushing pioneer dress or skirt. Stargirl is definitely different. She’s a fun loving, free-spirited girl who no one had ever met before. She was the friendliest person in school. She loves all people, even people who don’t play for her school’s team. She doesn’t care what others think about her clothes or how she acts. The lesson that Stargirl learned was that you can’t change who you are. If you change for someone else, you will only make yourself miserable. She also learned that the people who really care about you will like you for who you are. The people who truly love you won’t ask you to change who you are.
Power relationships in Craig Silvey’s Jasper Jones have been represented in various ways in the text’s and my own context. Through the representation of the Lus and Jasper Jones, racial power has been reflected in the context of the text being the 1960s. In the contemporary context, sexual power has been further reinforced through the point of view of Charlie and the death of Laura Wishart in the plot. Political power has been challenged in my current context as well as in the text’s context through the characterisation of Pete Wishart and the Sarge. Together with the changing society, power relationships are also changing and thus, over time there certainly will be changes to who hold the power in these relationships.
In criminology there are numerous theories as to the causes of different types of crime. These theories are extremely important in the continuous debate of the ways in which crime should be managed and prevented. Many theories have surfaced over the years. These theories continue to be explored individually and in combination, as criminologists search for the best solutions in ultimately reducing types and levels of crime. These theories include rational choice theory, social learning theory, and biology amongst many others. In this case study strain theory will be used to describe the reasons behind the white collar crimes of Charles Ponzi.
The story that Jess Walter tells, much like any other novel, is one of joy and sorrow. Lives intersect and separate, people fall into and out of love, and dreams are made and broken. What Walter does with his plot though is quite different. He writes it in a way where the whole book itself relies on the reader’s ability to realize that though some people meet for only a brief amount of time, their dreams and hopes, can hinge on even the briefest moments. Sometimes the characters in the novel have their stories intersect, some in very interesting ways, and other times you see their story as it is and was, just them. Walter does a wonderful job of bringing together many different lives, many stories, and showing how just because you feel alone, does not mean you are, your life and story can at any moment intersect with another and create a whole different story. Perhaps, Alvis Bender puts the idea that Walter is trying to convey into the best words, “Stories are people. I’m a story, you’re a story . . . your father is a story. Our stories go in every direction, but sometimes, if we’re lucky, our stories join into one, and for a while, we’re less alone.”
The most prominent linguistic aspect of the novel is its lack of dialogue. There is not one line of dialogue throughout the entire novel. This reliance on narration accomplishes several things for Kincaid's protagonist, Xuela Claudette Richardson. First, it allows Xuela to be defined by no one but herself. There...
Ballad of Birmingham by Dudley Randall. In Ballad of Birmingham, Dudley Randall illustrates a conflict between a child who wishes to march for civil rights and a mother who wishes only to protect her child. Much of this poem is read as dialogue between a mother and a child, a style which gives it an intimate tone and provides insight to the feelings of the characters. Throughout the poem, the child is eager to go into Birmingham and march for freedom with the people there.
What happens to someone when the familiar becomes foreign? In Jamaica Kincaid’s novel, Annie John, an Antiguan girl, Annie, experiences coming-of-age troubles, including finding acceptance in her individuality and familial ties, whilst freeing herself from societal expectations. In the final chapter, Annie John goes off to England to study nursing. Similarly, Jamaica Kincaid’s biographical essay on her experience, “On Seeing England for the First Time”, where she disappointedly recounts her travels, raises questions as to how the two compare. Through their shared feelings of disconnectedness and displacement, their different perspectives of England, and their questioning of identity, Kincaid’s pieces emphasize the evident similarity in Annie’s