BSG Reflection, Part II

As I read these chapters, I found myself looking for a connective theme. Why are these the episodes from Jason’s life—his year, as it seems they go month-by-month—that David Mitchell shares with the reader and that the character wants us to know (as he narrates them first-hand)? I’m still unsure. It feels to me that this is one of those novels you have to finish and look back on to fully understand its mechanics. Fortunately, I don’t remember much about my first reading of it (I’m still not sure if I completed it back then because I was frustrated with the colloquialisms at the time). What insights does the reader glean from these scenes from Jason’s year? What messages about youth, life, and the other big “stuff” are writ large across this novel? I guess here I’m thinking about the kind of expository (and, really, exploratory) writing I would have my class do if we were to read this book. Though, more and more, I’m thinking this text would be too difficult for most high school classrooms. (Andrea: You mentioned this below and I totally agree.)

Because this text has the features of a bildungsroman, there’s an obvious opportunity for writing that focuses on the personal. But in pushing students to think more critically, I’d be interested to see what themes, motifs, and symbols they would pull out as both significant and worthy of closer examination:

1. In my last post, I spoke a little about the structures of hierarchy in the village and in Jason’s eyes. In these chapters, we gain fresh insights. For instance, the structures of Jason’s family are laid bare in the third chapter, “Relatives.” Here, we see the way that everything in the house I thrown off by the arrival of the Lambs. Uncle Brian’s imperiousness cows Jason’s father, and Jason is in awe of and, ultimately, in thrall to his cousin Hugo, whom “luck loves” (43). The power struggles that run throughout this chapter are fascinating. How and why does Julia get the upper hand? Why does Jason’s father allow someone to come into his house and dominate when he is such an imposing figure at other points throughout the novel? A second instance of these structures brings the discussion back to class (as I glanced at with the first chapter). In “Bridle Path,” Kit Harris views Jason as the wealthy interloper. “Locals have more respect for my boys [his dogs] than some townie,” (71) he says. Here, the tables are turned and Jason is seen as someone atop the social structure by an outsider in ways that are similar to his view of himself being at the middle of a different structure among the boys and in the town. What do these shifting ideas about who is important tell us about the nature of these structures and their stability?

2. Another idea for exploration here could be the mix messages that Jason receives from the adult world and what insights they give the reader about where Jason is emotionally and socially as the novel unfolds. Two instances come to mind. The first is Jason’s interaction with his teacher, Mr. Kempsey. When his speech therapist intervenes and Jason is exempted from having to recite a text in front of his class, Mr. Kempsey speaks to Jason about the situation in ways both circuitous and ambivalent. Moreover, Jason senses he has the play the role of the naïve and gracious student: “I knew what he’d said but he was expecting me to act confused” (40), Jason says in the midst of Mr. Kempsey’s pompous speech. Jason, a student clearly intrigued by literature (Mr. Kempsey can’t be unaware of his poetry award, can he?) is blind to Jason’s needs and interests and forces Jason to play dumb for his (Mr. Kempsey’s) benefit. Along the same lines of Jason’s interests, there’s a devastating moment during the Lamb’s visit wherein Jason’s Father, Michael, insults Jason. “Technology, design, electric cars. That’s what schools should be teaching. Not all this “Wandered lonely as a cloud” guff” (48), says Michael. Yes, Jason’s mother exhibits some pride at his award, but his Dad essentially undoes any of this self-esteem building. How do these episodes inform our understanding of Jason and what he experiencing? Is it any wonder he “ache[s] to follow” the “V’s of long-distance birds” (69) out of town?

These struck me as two viable avenues for discussion in both class and written work. I’m interested to see how subsequent chapters will build on these ideas and what else they’ll have to offer.