‘Jasper Jones’ by Craig Silvey Essay

The Novel Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey revolves around a young boy named Charlie Bucktin living in the small(a) Australian town of Corrigan in the 1960s. Charlie is exposed to the confronting issues of racial prejudice, in erectice and moral duality. He is challenged to suspicion advanced from wrong, has to know to the realization that legality doesnt ever so promote justice and we as readers atomic number 18 positioned to understand that people are opened of holding two impertinent values and persist in confortable harmony. The ideas are portrayed through Silveys use of annals conventions that are utilize to either challenge or reinforce our values, attitudes and whimseys on the issues explored.Our morals and morals is our understanding of what we believe is honorable or wrong. Reading this refreshful we come to realize that the people of Corrigan are hypocrites, cable of holding two distant values or beliefs. Jasper Jones does non deny that he is a thief, a liar, a thug, a truant, entirely despite this, he says I never stole a thing I dint need and all my life so far, sh*ts bin taken forth me, so Im evening the ledger a dapple (page 34). My attitude towards larceny is that its wrong, save Jaspers char roleplayer has challenged this belief and suggests that stealing is okay and dejection be justified in this case because he did it to mend the things he needs because its never gonna get offered.When Jasper asked Charlie to help him overlay the body of Laura Wishart, he was not only asking him to break the law scarcely was making Charlie go against his morals and he had to reconsider what the right thing to do was. He knew that tampering with her body was illegal but he did it anyway to help Jasper stay out of trouble and determine the truth of what had happened. Craig is trying to show us that we all hold conflicting views on things and that sometimes we can think one way and act in an another(prenominal)(a)wise. It has made me re alize that I too may infringe my own values and positions me to reconsider what I believe to be right and wrong.Corrigan is a town swamped with lies and injustice. Silvey is expressing this theme through the establishment of characters and plot. His message is that the jurisprudence and what seems morally right, doesnt necessarily uphold justice.Jasper Jones has a bad character in Corrigan and after his discovery of Lauras body, Charlie argues that they should go to the police but Jasper knows that the rule of law doesnt apply to him. He is the towns scapegoat when an incident occurs and says, We cant tell anyone. Especially the legal philosophy they are gonna say it was me. (page 13). When the disappearance of Laura becomes public, Jasper is locked up and bashed by her father the shire President. Throughout the novel Pete Wishart is always referred to by this title. He is suppositious to be a public figure and role model but instead hes an abusive drunk that impregnated his da ughter and manhandled a child.This misconduct shows how power can be misused and the double standards that subsist in society. The myth of Mad Jack Lionel burdened the town of Corrigan. Rumours were transmit concerning his involvement with the death of Rosie Jones and he was Jaspers first suspicion as to what had happened to Laura. The lies and suppositions were just heaped upon the stack (page 240). He had been wrongfully accused and blamed for things he did not do and his town turned its back on him. The unjust interposition of Jasper and Jack Lionel shows that people are so quick to judge and install assumptions about others without knowing a thing about them. It reinforces by belief that you shouldnt judge a book by its cover and should get to know the truth about someone before you pass judgement.Multiculturalism, which is known to contemporary Australians, was unheard of in the 1960s and the concept of people from other countries and cultural backgrounds enriching in Aust ralian life was a foreign concept. This novel explores the racism behind the diversity towards those from non-European backgrounds such as Jeffery Lu and his family. Silveys selection of setting, the context of this novel and the surrounding circumstances such as the Vietnam War provides an understanding of the current attitudes that society may have had towards legitimate ideas. At the time of this novel, many Australians were resentful for having to go over and employment in the war. Charlies best friend Jeffery, who is of Vietnamese background, was subject to discrimination and copped a lot of bullying because of this. A woman whose son had died in the war attacked Jefferys mother, Mrs Lu. She slapped her cup up, right into her chest scalding her skin (page 128).This expression positioned me to feel sorry for Mrs Lu andreinforced by belief that everyone, no matter what race, should be treated with equality. Jeffery is often victimized by other kids, like Warwick Trent the te enage bully of the town, because of his race. Hes the boy whos always been two years bigger and broader than anyone his age (page 57). He and the other boys that Jeffery often encounters at the local oval are intimidated by his intellect and his cricket skills. They try to establish their dominance over Jeffery by using his ethnicity against him and asserting racial comments such as F*ck off, c*nt eyes (page 58) and F*ck off Cong (page 59). The mistreatment of Lu family has shown me the significance of coequality and how damaging racism can be. The message Silvey is trying to convey is that anyone who is perceived to be divergent or inferior is made to feel as outcasts and unwelcome in society. It has made me reconsider how I should treat others and has helped me develop a greater understanding of why everyone should be treated with respect and equality disregarding of their race.Jasper Jones deals with many issues that are prevalent in our modern society. The author uses tarradid dle conventions such as plot, setting and characters to challenge or reinforce my attitudes and values. I come to understand that people can hold contradicting values and remain in comfortable harmony. I realize that the law doesnt always uphold justice and am positioned to see the harm discrimination can cause. These are just a few of the ways that Craig Silvey has used narrative conventions to influence my point of view on the themes expressed in Jasper Jones.