Themes of Adversity and Self-growth in Jasper Jones

Adversity can be a stepping stone for building an individual’s identity. The attitude in which the individual approach these challenges allows them to mature and change. Adversity forces individuals to be brave and to discover themselves and explore the realities around them, thus enabling them to come to an inevitable realisation regarding their own perceptions and surroundings, allowing them to grow as individuals. The constant facing of challenges, allows individuals to awaken their intrinsic nature to survive. Challenges also allow the transition from childhood to adulthood, thus enabling individuals to push past the confines of their existing narrative to discover a new perspective which challenges their pre-existing worldviews. The novel ‘Jasper Jones’ by Craig Silvey, explores themes of adversity and self-growth through their character Charlie Bucktin, Jasper Jones and Jeffrey Lu, by constantly throwing them in situations where they need to confront or affirm their existing social and self-perceptions. The novel proves the need for adversity and how it compels individuals to show courage, thus allowing them to comprehend and change their identities and build new perceptions about their realities.

The continuous confrontation of an obstacle forces individuals to affirm or confront their stereotype, by initiating their defense mechanisms to fight or flight, as seen with the characters of Jasper and Jeffrey. Due to the racial stereotypes associated with Jasper, everyone rejects and scapegoats him, he “has a terrible reputation in Corrigan. He’s seen as a Thief, a Liar, a Thug, a Truant” thus forcing him to shut out the world and wear a mask of Masculinity. In Corrigan, “Jasper Jones is able to navigate through the world and comes out on top, in spite of the shitty hands he gets dealt, over and over by shutting everyone out and wearing a poker gaze, like a superhero mask”. Silvey’s repetition of the words “over and over” highlight the constant prejudice Jasper faces in the town, the “mask” hides the inner fear and turmoil Jasper feels in the face of adversity. To survive Jasper “lives in a bubble, unbothered by anyone”. The “bubble” metaphor showcases Jasper’s closed mindset and his feelings of being trapped. The death of Laura compels Jasper to change this mindset of dealing with it. Hence he comes to the decision of “leave Corrigan behind for good”.

Unlike Jasper, Jeffery’s optimistic attitude is the core reason for his resilience, Jeffrey confronts his racial stereotypes of bad athleticism head on. Silvey demonstrates this through the racial harassment and humiliation Jeffery faces while playing cricket with the local boys, whilst playing “someone kicks Jeffery’s ankle and says, f*ck off cong. Jeffrey stumbles, but keeps going head high.” utilization of colloquial language showcases the bigotry of Corrigan, transporting the reader into Jeffrey’s perspective. “Jeffery is...resilient” in face of adversity, confronting his racial stereotype of bad athleticism as seen when “In unison those boys, yelled, ‘Shot, Cong!”, this event showcases that through the use of his alethclism and optimism Jeffery was able to take control of his stereotype, and transform his derogatory “nickname” into a term of approval. When faced with adversity, Jeffrey formed the ambitions to change and challenge the cultural assumptions of the town of Corrigan, by maintaining a positive attitude, which teaches him to be resilient. Jasper formed the ambitions to leave, conforming to his stereotypes thus generating a negative attitude forcing Jasper to grow resilient and independent. In both scenarios, adversity paved the way for growth and moulded the two very distinct individual identities with similar characteristics.

Adversity authorises the progression of maturity which enables an individual to advance past the boundaries of their perceptions of reality thus questioning their current outlook of the world around them. Negative interactions with the town reveal to Charlie a brand new narrative which exposes Charlie to follies of the town and the irony of his own “just” world view, thus enabling him to grow and transition from adulthood to childhood. At the beginning of the novel, Charlie is seen as a shy, bookish boy, however, faced with the death of Laura, Charlie is forced to leave “The hot womb of his room”, and step into a new frame of reference which challenges his worldview.

Silvey describes Charlie’s “exit from the window..like foal being born”. The Simile of “foal being born” is symbolic of Charlie’s new worldview being born from this adversity. Furthermore, The reveal of Laura Wishart’s body has detrimental effects on Charlie. This is proved through his internal monologue, which reveals to the readers, the unimaginable guilt and trauma, he feels “Everything in his world that was steady and sure and sturdy has been shaken out of place, and it’s now drifting and swirling back down in a confetti of debris. A book he knew by heart was torn up and thrown into the air”. The Metaphor of “book” represents Charlie’s value of knowledge and understanding of the world around him. However, that “book he knew by heart, was torn up and thrown into the air”, is a metaphor for Charlie’s altered perception of the world and all his prior knowledge and understanding being destroyed, highlighting the loss and destruction of his childhood and his transition into adulthood. This internal chaos paves the way for Charlie’s progression to maturity, this is made evident near the end, as throughout the novel Silvey uses the peaches as motif for both maturity and bravery, Charlie's new maturity is thus emphasised through his act of bravado in stealing Mad Jack Lionel’s peaches, an act which “requires more courage” than he displayed at the beginning. Adversity shred of Charlie’s previous narratives, and coerced Charlie to transition from childhood to adulthood, and explore the world around him with bravery and courage, thus enabling him to form new mature perceptions.

Jasper Jones demonstrates to the readers, the necessity of adversity for growth. It urges individuals to be courageous, hence allowing them to understand and develop their character and view the world in a new perspective. The facing of an challenge, enables an individual to make a decision on the attitude in which they approach the situation, hence permitting them to generating their own personal ambitions. Adversity also allows individuals to question their current narratives and grow in maturity thus enabling them to endure future hardships and perceive the world with courage and bravery. Craig Silvey uses many literary techniques to demonstrate such concepts to the audience, and immerse the audience in a compelling narrative, allowing them to perceive the world in many different perspectives, and form their own new perspective, just like the characters. Essentially, Adversity forms the foundation for individuals to attain greater knowledge regarding themselves and the realities around them, the way they comprehend these new realities, helps them to develop and grow.