Doing the Right Thing Even When it Hurts
Jason Taylor is easily my favorite character we've discussed so far. Yet, on the surface he seems the most bland. Jason is not as charismatic as Holden; he is not as cool as Esther; and his story is not as unique as Alison's. Yet when you look beneath his stuttering words and his constant desire to be cool, Jason Taylor is a loveable boy who's impulse to do the right thing consistently shines through.
Jason has one true friend: Dean Moran. Yet, at the start of the book, Jason consistently looks down on Dean in order to climb the social ladder. And throughout the first half of the book, Jason successfully does so. Even though his concious screams out against him the whole time, Jason pulls off a badass prank in front of the coolest kids in school. He even gets an invite to the Spooks, the most exclusive gang in all of black swan green. Yet just when he gets accepted into the Spooks, he throws it all away in order to get a chance to help out his friend Dean. While the society around Jason attempts to pull him to do whatever it takes to become cool. When forced to make the choice, he throws everything away in order to help out his friend and do the right thing.
Yet, Jason's impulse to do the right thing doesn't just help his best friend, it also includes his greatest enemy. Throughout the entire book, Wilcox makes his life miserable. And, while Jason is at the fair, he gets the chance of a lifetime to finally get payback. Jason finds over 500 pounds in Wilcox's lost wallet. Additionally he finds out that Wilcox's dad will beat him to a pulp if Wilcox doesn't get his wallet back. Jason is validly tempted--and after everything Wilcox does throughout the book he is right in feeling that way--yet he decides to return the wallet. Even after being saved by Jason, however, Wilcox continues to behave like an asshole, and Karma strikes. Wilcox gets into a near fatal accident and loses his leg.
While Wilcox, abesolutely caused the sequence of events that led to losing his leg, from breaking up with his girlfriend, to stealing Tom Yew's motrocycle and crashing it. Jason can't forgive himself, because he feels that if he had only returned the wallet sooner, he could have saved Wilcox's leg. Throughout the remainder of the book, Jason's inner turmoil over his actions remains a central theme. Jason can't decide whether or not he's a good person, or if he did the right thing.
Yet, to me, Jason's inner turmoil is exactly why I like his so much--it shows that he is a deeply empathetic character. A good person--at least in my eyes--is not confident that they are a good person. Instead, they continuosly question the morality of their actions. Jason doesn't only want to do the right thing to seem like a good person, he has a genuine impulse to be a good person. Jason's largest coming of age development is going from someone who is entirely focused on outer appearances, to someone who listens to his own strong impulses to do the right thing.
I liked how you mention that Jason really should be the most boring of all the protagonists in this class, but that really is of his own doing. Jason is actually so interesting, with his love for poetry, and other 'nerdy' interests, but he tries to hide them and dumb himself down just to fit in. As the book goes on, one of the only true aspects of himself that Jason doesn't hide is his inherent motivation to do good. Jason finds himself going back for Dean, or returning Wilcox's wallet, even despite how much it will subvert his efforts to fit in. This was a really interesting post, Kyle!
ReplyDeleteI really like how you depict Jason Taylor. You explain clearly why he stands out, even though he seems ordinary at first. I like how you show that his small choices, like standing by his friend or returning the wallet to Ross, reveal his true character. You make a good point that being a nice person isn’t about being perfect, but about caring and trying to do the right thing. That's what really sets Jason apart from Holden or Esther. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThis is a nice articulation of what is so easily likable and relatable about Jason's character, and much of it hinges on things that only WE know (along with Jason), stuff he hasn't talked about with Dean or anyone else. You cite Jason's difficult choice with the wallet as a key example--and in a book where he is SO self-conscious about how his actions will be seen and judged by others, it's significant that this entire moral debate takes place invisibly, internally, silently. He isn't impressing anyone else OR worried about alienating them. No one will judge Jason, apart from his own conscience. It is a true moral test in this sense--it's all about what is right, what choice will enable him to look himself in the mirror, or sleep at night. And he makes the choice in private, alone, and the only one who conceivably COULD be impressed is Ross, and his response is unsatisfying. (Would it kill him to say "thank you"?)
ReplyDeleteIf the book as a whole is a "confession" (as Jason indicates in "Disco," when he starts writing "Goose Fair"), then we are his "confessors." It sounds like you are granting him absolution for his sins, in response to his confession. And even this is not enough--Jason is STILL pondering his degree of responsibility for what happened to Ross in the final chapter. His conscience is STILL bothering him. He confesses to Mrs. Gretton. He's likely still thinking of all this next year, in Cheltenham. At times I want to tell Jason to cut himself some slack--but I have to admit, I'm impressed and in a sense humbled by his relentlessly high moral standards for himself.
Despite being obsessed with his social standing and his anger towards Ross, his moral compass sort of shines through. This attraction towards being just shows up in so many parts of the novel. I see one major connection between the two scenes that you mentioned. Whether it is Dean or Ross, Jason is willing to help people when they are at their worst. His reasoning is different for both, but I think that if he had chosen to look the other way in both situations, Jason would have been ridden with guilt (not that he wasn't after the wilcox incident).
ReplyDeleteI really liked your discussion of the social ladder and how Jason lives in it. His decision to choose Dean over the Spooks was definitely an important one, and it allowed him to realize that the social ladder becomes invisible when you start making real connections and having real friendships with the people who are on the same level as you.
ReplyDeleteI really like your perspective on Jason. I would say that he's been my favorite character as well so far, simply because he feels so "real". He's just an empathetic kids who's really trying his very best to be liked. When he's given the opportunity to really get back at someone, he doesn't take it because he knows it's morally wrong. I think Jason is the perfect depiction of a "normal kid" trying to find who they are.
ReplyDeleteHi Kyle! I really liked your analysis of Jason in your blog. He is very similar to an actual teenager with his obsession with the social hierarchy of his class. Your blog did a great job discussing the complexity of Jason and what depictions of him in the book reflect different parts of him! Your conclusion was my favorite, I agree that he contrasts his peers through how empathetic he is.
ReplyDeleteJason is a great example of a "good character." He isn't better by being funnier, he isn't better by being cooler, he isn't blatantly more appealing. He's just better. His "unique" trait is ironically being normal, being much more similar and relatable to a modern teenager than a teenager during Holden's era. And the fact that his moral compass always becomes priority whenever it matters most is what makes him such an interesting person.
ReplyDeleteHi Kyle! Your analysis of Jason tells of his entire narrative; he yearns to be a "cool kid," but these kids are bullies and overall terrible people to the other around them. His development is very obvious when pointing to his evolving relationship with Dean, a figure in his life who doesn't care much about social hierarchy. His emotional maturity is his most redeeming quality and makes me much more appealing to the reader, compared to someone as brash or negative as Esther or Holden in their previous novels. Great job!
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