thesis statement for jasper jones

Jasper Jones

By craig silvey, jasper jones essay questions.

How does Charlie's relationships with each of his parents differ? Do his relationships with either of them change over the course of the novel?

As Charlie grows up and becomes increasingly disillusioned with his town, his disillusionment extends to his feelings about his parents. He comes to see his mom as overbearing and unhappy with her life, and his dad as overly passive.

Discuss what Charlie learns about courage throughout Jasper Jones . What does he think courage is at first? How does this differ from the views of other people in his life?

Charlie's relationship with Jasper teaches him at first what courage looks like and eventually what courage is. He learns that bravery is a choice, and that courageous behavior primarily entails a strong poker face; you can never banish your fear, only decide to proceed in the face of it. He adopts this knowledge into his life in satisfying ways.

Compare and contrast Charlie's character with that of Holden Caufield in The Catcher in the Rye .

Both Charlie and Holden are disillusioned with their communities and have complicated home lives. Holden has access to a different kind of life, however, and uses his wealth to go on an adventure, while adventure comes to Charlie, whether he wants it or not. Holden is primarily concerned with helping himself, while Charlie is caught up in helping another person.

Many of the characters in Jasper Jones are harboring secrets. How do these secrets advance the plot? Which ones come to light and which ones don't, and what does this say about the meaning of Jasper Jones ?

Charlie, Eliza, Jasper, and Charlie's parents all harbor their own secrets. While Eliza and Jasper confide in Charlie, their secrets never leave that small circle of people. Charlie's father confides in him about his manuscript, and Charlie's mother is caught cheating on his father. The public never learns the truth about what happens to Laura, partly because Charlie, Eliza, and Jasper decide that it is best not to reveal the secret. Overall, this suggests that, while secrets can tear apart families, communities, and individual lives, the solution is not always as simple as just revealing them.

Compare and contrast Jeffery and Jasper's characters.

Charlie regards both Jeffery and Jasper as being particularly brave. Jeffery and Jasper face similar prejudices in Corrigan because of their races, but they react to this prejudice in different ways. This is due, in part, to their different home lives. While Jasper does what he wants with what he was given, Jeffery attempts to gain acceptance in town by operating within its existing structures.

Jasper Jones Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Jasper Jones is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

WHO IS CASAROLLS

Are you referring to the book Jasper Jones?

I need some advice.

It is not uncommon for young children to be curious about their bodies and the bodies of others, and they may engage in behaviors that are considered socially inappropriate or uncomfortable for adults. However, it is important to address any...

Masculinity

“My point is this: the more you have to lose, the braver you are for standing up.” pg. 56

“Every instance in my life, I've felt like the exact opposite of Superman. Except this time, this moment right now. I don't care. I don't feel like a weak,...

Study Guide for Jasper Jones

Jasper Jones study guide contains a biography of Craig Silvey, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Jasper Jones
• Jasper Jones Summary
• Character List

Essays for Jasper Jones

Jasper Jones essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey.

• Truth and Justice in Jasper Jones
• Jasper Jones: Justice, Agency, and Perspective
• Australian Culture and Jasper Jones
• Quick Thinking in the Toughest Times: Heroism in Seabiscuit and Jasper Jones
• Themes of Prejudice in Jasper Jones

Lesson Plan for Jasper Jones

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Jasper Jones
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Jasper Jones Bibliography

• Ask LitCharts AI
• Discussion Question Generator
• Essay Prompt Generator
• Quiz Question Generator

• Literature Guides
• Poetry Guides
• Shakespeare Translations
• Literary Terms

Jasper Jones

Craig silvey.

One of the first pieces of information we learn about Charlie Bucktin is that he loves reading and writing. At many points throughout the novel, he uses literature as a form of fantasy, through which he can momentarily escape from his feelings of guilt and anxiety.

After Charlie’s discovery of Laura ’s body, he is profoundly traumatized, and it’s only by fantasizing about the day when he can move to New York and be a great writer that Charlie copes with his trauma. Other characters in the novel have their own fantasies of escape, too: Jasper longs to leave Corrigan and go north; Ruth wants to return to her wealthy lifestyle in the city; and Eliza dreams of living like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s .

Although Silvey acknowledges that fantasy and escapism are important tools by which humans cope with sadness, literal escape is never an ideal option for the characters in his book. Jasper “escapes” Corrigan at the end of the novel, but only because he’s suspected of murder and arson, so there’s nothing celebratory about the circumstances of his exit. The only character who leaves Corrigan willingly is Ruth Bucktin, who returns to her family after Charlie discovers that his mother is having an affair. Silvey portrays Ruth as childish and spoiled. Her escape to the city, then, is an admission of weakness and cowardice, proof that she can’t deal with her problems in Corrigan in a mature manner.

It is precisely because escape itself is always less than ideal that fantasies of escape are so important to the characters in the novel. The most important form that fantasy takes is fiction writing. For Charlie, fiction is a way to ease the pain and sorrow he experiences in his life. After he learns that Laura’s father raped her, for instance, he uses writing as a form of therapy, explaining that he needs to “get it out” as quickly as possible. It’s possible to read all of Jasper Jones as a way for Charlie to cope with the events he’s experienced. Forced to keep Laura’s death a secret, Charlie had to deal with anxiety, guilt, and fear. By writing about Laura’s death (in other words, writing the book we’re reading), he eases his burden, passing on some of his feelings to the reader. Other characters, like Jasper and Eliza, feel similar feelings of guilt and anxiety—indeed, they both blame themselves for Laura’s death. Yet neither Jasper nor Eliza uses writing to overcome guilt. Instead, Jasper flees Corrigan, and Eliza resorts to arson and attempted murder of her father to enact justice for Laura’s death.

In general, then, the book Jasper Jones itself is a key part of Charlie’s coming of age. Instead of running away like Jasper or Ruth, or turning to violence, like Eliza, he stays in Corrigan, dealing with his problems more maturely and intelligently by writing about them. For Silvey, writing is a part of growing up. Rather than avoiding one’s problems by retreating into make-believe, or fleeing one’s problem altogether, the writer can confront his problems head-on, interpreting them and dramatizing them. While this doesn’t make one’s problems disappear altogether, it does prevent them from “building up,” as they do for Eliza.

Escape, Guilt, and Writing ThemeTracker

Escape, Guilt, and Writing Quotes in Jasper Jones

I am dizzy and sick. And it’s as though touching her has sealed my fate. I am in this story. She can’t be ignored. She’s real. I’ve touched her now. I’ve been privy to her last moments of heat, her last wisps of smoke.

It’s occurred to me that one day she might not come back at all. She might simply refuse. I know her family pressure her. I know they coddle her with self-serving concern, that they constantly remind her of the things she’s missing, the things they feel she deserves. And I don’t really blame her for being seduced by it. It’s what she grew up with, I guess.

I had to make things work when I could. Soon as you can walk and talk, you start makin your own luck. And I don’t need some spirit in the sky to help me do that. I can do it on my own. But, see, that’s what I reckon, Charlie. It’s that part inside me that’s stronger and harder than anything else. And I reckon prayer is just trustin in it, havin faith in it, just askin meself to be tough. And that’s all you can do.

I look over at An Lu, who is returning to his home, his hands behind his back, his chin on his chest. I wonder what he’s thinking. There’s something about his posture that convinces me he’s judging me poorly. I feel so ashamed, I feel like everyone in this town is disappointed in me. And that’s when I resolve it, with my father’s hand on my back. When Jasper Jones goes, when he leaves town after this mess is over, I’ll be going with him. I’ll be leaving too. Leaving Corrigan behind. For good.

I was terrified, but something kicked in me. I discovered a gift for lies. I looked straight at them and offered up the best story I could muster. It was like I’d clicked opened my suitcase and started spinning a thread at my desk. Weaving between the factual and the fictional. It was factitious. And Jeffrey was right, it was all in the delivery. I had them. I’d reeled them in. They all nodded like it was the truth, writing it down on a yellow pad.

Mostly, I spent the time writing. Almost obsessively. Every day and every night. It’s the thing that gave me company. Along with reading, it’s what got me out of the house without them being able to stop me at the door.

We’ll be like Kerouac and Cassady. We could steal away in boxcars, ride all the way across the country. Melbourne, Sydney. Every town in between. I could document our adventures. Maybe one day I could get our story published under a nom de plume. I’d have to move to New York City. The famous writer who fled from his hometown and shunned the limelight.

We’d gone to confront Mad Jack Lionel about murdering Laura Wishart only to find that he was driving the car that killed Jasper’s mother. The world isn’t right. It’s small and it’s nasty and it’s lousy with sadness. Under every rock, hidden in every closet, shaken from every tree, it seems there’s something horrible I don’t want to see. I don’t know. Maybe that’s why this town is so content to face in on itself, to keep everything so settled and smooth and serene. And at the moment, I can’t say as I blame them.

This is what happened. And I’ve got to get it out quick, I’ve got to loosen the valve on it and let it go, fizzing and spraying, because it’s too hard, it’s too heavy, it’s too much. I can’t hold on to it for too long because it’ll burn. Do you understand? It’s the knowing. It’s always the knowing that’s the worst. I wish I didn’t have to. I want the stillness back. But I can’t. I can’t ever get it back. So. Thisiswhathappened.

I also have a suspicion that Eliza might be less concerned with what’s right, less concerned about uncovering the truth, than she is about ensuring that she and Jasper Jones, and maybe her father, too, are meted out the penance that she feels they each deserve. I think she wants to do something with all this blame and hurt. I think she just wants to tie rocks to all their feet.

It’s so smart and sad and beautiful that I’m not even jealous. And I have a warm feeling in my belly that says someone important is going to believe in it. That one day I’ll see my father’s name on a straight spine on a bookstore shelf, standing proud and strong and bright.

• Quizzes, saving guides, requests, plus so much more.