Black Swan Green First Half

Although the novel centers on Jason Taylor, the novel is so much more. Initially I was uncertain as to how and what would I want to teach from Black Swan Green. The novel is largely uneventful and the narrative structure defies the classic triangular plot diagram of rising action, conflict, climax and resolution. Perhaps students could explore multiple structures of narration and how often stories, even wonderful stories, do not require heavy plot. What makes a good story? Characters? Ideas?
After reading the first half, the novel can act as in invitation to a diversity of ordinary themes and issues that extend beyond Jason’s musings and coming of age. For example, the death of Thomas Yew in the Falklands War conjured up personal memories of my neighbor’s son who is deployed in Afghanistan and classmates who have passed away in high-school. Students could explore the idea of loss in their own lives. In addition, students could examine the topic of war and the present war in Afghanistan. The war has taken a back seat in the media and yet it demands discussion. Although Black Swan Green is set in a geographically and historically different time period, the topics of conversation are universal. Mr. Nixon’s speech about Thomas’s death was stirring and thought provoking:

Life can inflict few cruelties perhaps on cruelty-more acute than the death of a son-or brother…I hope that, as you consider Thomas’s sacrifice, you will think about the consequences of violence, who conducts the violence, be it military or emotional. I hope you will note who initiates violence, who conducts the violence, and who must pay the price of violence. Wars do not simply appear form nowhere…I also hope you will consider what is truly precious in your own lives, and what is merely…flimflam…grandstanding…froth…posturing..egotism (112).
Mitchell is incredibly deft at writing dialogue and employing multiple voices. Another mini-lesson could focus on the dinner table scene between Uncle Brian and Jason’s annoyed sister, Julia. Uncle Brian berates Julia for her decision to want to attend Edinburgh or Durham University instead of the prestigious Oxford University. Students could discuss notions of family expectations, class, and reputation. For example, why does society place such a strong emphasis on college rankings? Similarly Jason’s fascination with Hugo and Ewan could lead to a free-write on who do we admire as a teenager, who do we want to be like, and why?
Mitchell also touches upon gentrification as another issue. The man with the three Dobermans calls Jason a townie: “Knew it. Locals have more respect for my boys than some townie. You come here, come traipsin’ about, leavin’ gates open, puttin’ up your little toy mansions on land we’ve been workin’ for generations. Makes me sick. Just lookin’ at you” (71). Jason’s family is middle to upper middle class. They are new to the town. Living in New York, students witness the constant transformation of neighborhoods. Who and what is authentic? How do they feel about such change? Why do people resent newness and new people? Can neighborhoods and cities stay static?
Lastly, I wonder how my reactions and experience reading the novel would differ if I was currently in high school compared to now as a twenty-three year old looking back on my early teenage years? I say this because I don’t know if I would enjoy and comprehend Mitchell’s novel in high school. I am for the most part enjoying the novel now because of the verbal wordplay and mainly the intertwining of ordinary life with Mitchell’s commentary of British society in the 1980s.