Analysis of Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey

Book- Jasper Jones. By: Craig Silvey

1. Highlight one character with whom you can identify.

One character I greatly identify with is Jeffrey Lu. He is a twelve-year-old boy of Vietnamese descent where he lives with his benevolent father and bright mother in Corrigan, Australia. I can deeply connect with this character because we share something very similar to each other, we simply don’t belong. In Lu’s situation, the book takes place during the Vietnam War. Arrogant and bigoted people therefore, the whole Vietnamese community greatly, day by day he gained great proficiency in identifying racism in the small mining town, he is completely astonished by the radicals who bully him and his family, making him feel ashamed that he originates from the continent of Asia.

In my case racism is a paramount part of my life, inhumane and degrading insults are used to express my dark skin, from even comparing it to faeces or even charcoal and experience the same discrimination in my motherland as being regarded as a “Borga” and not a true Ghanaian, a common phrase to describe me was “mulatto” for my mom’s winter maiden appearance and my father’s Vantablack look , I felt so isolated from the outside world as my social environment was filled with such disgust it was basically non-existent;.

The reason why I can relate to him is we do not feel wanted from where we come from and our destination.

2. Identify one character you dislike.

The character which I absolutely loathe is James Trent.

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James Trent is an inhabitant of Corrigan, who has just recently lost his job in the construction sector and blames it on the Vietnamese species. The reason I dislike him is that he’s chauvinistic, xenophobic and most of all, a white supremacist. He spreads hate and disdain of all that represents the proud nation of Vietnam, attempting to reason with his anger understandable as his brethren fall in combat, but he doesn’t show melancholy and rather feels the need to assault innocent people. He makes use of horrific slurs, “Red Rat! Fucking red rat!”, “Go back to Hanoi, rats.” He fails to recognize that not only the western world suffered casualties, but also that of thousands of Viet Cong fighters; when James Trent refers to them going back to where they came from brings a flashback of how Mrs. Lu lost all her family members in a bombing raid in Vietnam. The worst part of James Trent is all the awful things he did to the Vietnamese community is when he was under the influence, and this is the main reason to why he was fired from his job.

3. What conflict can the novel relate to?

The conflict in the novel which I relate to is Racial discrimination. The whole book consists of invectives which are meant to address this powerful social vector, even though the book is set in the 1960’s, the theme of this book still holds a strong connection to our generation where people are dehumanized based off the scientific field of genetics which they have absolutely no control over, it makes mention also not only to the Vietnamese at the time, but also the native Australians which have a striking dark complexion, Jasper Jones in particular; who is described as a thief and unscrupulous influence on the children in the community, given names such as “Negro”. I can relate to it as being a victim of racial discrimination in several situations in my life the novel looks at me as if I am looking at a mirror; every derogatory word which is used in the book is a sword to the heart. It characterizes the true essence of humanity, hateful, prideful and prejudice. The novel unconsciously shows how one chemical in the body’s system has accounted for an unprecedented amount of life, melanin.

4. How has the story strengthened or changed an opinion or belief that you hold? This novel has strengthened my opinion on Expression of my Views, I am the controller of my own destiny, throughout the chapters of the play Jeffrey Lu continues to beat the odds in everything he does, being regarded as one of the smartest people in the seventh grade meanwhile, he is the youngest one due to him skipping a grade or how he made forty-three runs in the biggest cricket competition in Western Australia. All the hatred he holds, is channelled into aspiration and positive and which helps those around him. His resilience against all the forces which attack him in this book are truly admirable, being able to withhold or suppress feelings of malice or violent intent is something which I truly envy about him, my opinion about dealing with problems was being vocal and expressive in order to get my views across but in this generation, life is rather politics; responding with action. Another opinion which I identified was Acceptance of Ethnicity, Jeffrey Lu in several ways reaches enlightenment in the sense that worldly things do not affect him at all and rather he focuses on things that will help him to further to progress in life.
5. What was the most intensive, emotional or frustrating part of the narrative? The most emotional part of the narrative is when An Lu is attacked by some of the locals of the community led by James Trent and the prized garden of the neighbourhood destroyed, when the novel reaches the climax regarding racial discrimination and ethnic insecurity. This part of the novel is very emotional because while they are attacking him the only thing his wife can do is hold Jeffrey Lu as tight as possible to prevent him from attacking the assailants. The drive that is displayed when Mrs. Lu’s motherly instincts immediately kicked in to protect her son even though her spouse was in agony. The scene was also very intense as many citizens who are known to be calm and collected rose up to protect An Lu, such as: Wesley Bucktin. This shows how in times of need, good and accepting citizens unite to protect their own.
6. Is the fate/ outcome of the narrative satisfactory or suitable? Does the conclusion seem authentic and/or realistic?

Yes, the outcome of the novel is satisfactory because at the end of the novel many of the racially indifferent citizens were driven out of the community and Jasper Jones is saved from the fate of the old and corrupt criminal justice system of Australia. Since the novel is based on major issues during the 1960’s in Western Australia, it creates a gloomy atmosphere as this was a cause of many deaths during that time frame and addresses the problems which minority groups had to endure, this makes the book very accurate and genuine. It also makes happy how Charlie Bucktin and Eliza Wishart fall deeply in love with each other despite their differences in race and social standing.