Racism In Jasper Jones

519 Words2 Pages

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey is acknowledged as a murder mystery, but it depicts much more. Its thrilling plot about a 13 year old boy coming of age in a small town has many underlying themes that are still present in today’s society. In fact, the plot fuels the themes and showcases them throughout the book. Themes like racism, hypocrisy, secrets, identity and bullying are constantly glimpsed at in Jasper Jones. Racism is present throughout Jasper Jones generally toward characters like Jasper Jones and Jeffery Lu. Jeffery Lu’s family were called names and tortured, because of the drafting of the Vietnam War and the dismissal of employees in the coalmine. Jeffery is also shunned by his cricket club, even though he is a talented individual. He is called names like ‘Cong’ and ‘C**t Eyes,’ and is laughed at, no matter how well he does. This is also similar to Jasper, as explained on page 60, “See, I always thought that eventually there will be some sort of grudging respect for Jeffery’s talent. Much the same as it is for Jasper. ... He never trains, doesn’t listen to the coach, doesn’t ...

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