The Persistent Need to Fit-In
The life of a thirteen-year-old boy living in 1980s Black Swan Green is a never-ending performance. Adherence to unspoken social rules is a huge theme in Jason Taylor’s narrative, which is evident from the very beginning of the novel, when he refuses to wear his black parka and woolly hat because “black means you fancy yourself as a hard-knock,” and “woolly hats’re gay” (5). Because of this, the reader gets to know Jason’s two different personas: the public/social Jason, who likes games like British Bulldogs and smoking cigarettes, and the private Jason, who writes poetry and gets book tokens for Christmas.
In many ways, Jason’s self-suppression in social settings can be dismissed as temporary, a natural part of coming of age and trying to find one’s identity. Jason himself uses this same argument when attempting to justify his use of the pseudonym “Eliot Bolivar” in his poems to Madame Crommelynck: “I’m a kid. I’m thirteen. You said it’s a miserable age, being thirteen, and you’re right. If you don’t fit in, they make your life a misery” (154). While Jason may be correct that the pressure to fit in is especially intense during adolescence, the novel ultimately raises the question of whether this need for social performance and conformity resolves as one grows older or continues into adulthood.
To answer this question, an interesting scene to look at is the dinner with Uncle Brian’s family. The way Jason describes the entire ordeal, from the salt and pepper magically becoming “condiments” to his father’s phony wine expertise, suggests that adult life is also governed by a set of unspoken social rules. The dynamic between Uncle Brian and Jason’s dad, Michael, is particularly illustrative of these rules and mirrors the social hierarchy of Jason’s school. In the context of Jason’s school, Uncle Brian holds a status similar to that of boys like Grant Burch and Gilbert Swinyard, who are near the top of the hierarchy and define the norms for those below them. Michael, in contrast, occupies a position closer to Jason’s, trying his best to pretend like he fits in, but in some cases, making it painfully obvious that he does not.
What is especially similar between the dynamics of Uncle Brian and Michael and those of Jason and his classmates is the emphasis on not being seen to care too much. Just as Jason and the other less-popular boys in his class must laugh off the hurtful comments made by the Grant Burches of the world, Michael must absorb Uncle Brian’s condescension, pretending to find his comments amusing rather than humiliating. This scene suggests that the expectation to pretend in social settings does not dissolve as one grows older, but continues into adulthood, as social hierarchies persist.
The depiction of the social rules continuing to adulthood is, to me, the most realistic portion of the book. In my life the social standards not only continue but honestly they become more intense. People develop the "keeping up with the Jones'" mentality, especially moms, and the comparison of not only their lives take on but also of their children's lives. Black Swan Green was a good example of how guys experience this which is something I haven't seen often. Well done, Lena!
ReplyDeleteHi Lena,
ReplyDeleteThis was a very good breakdown of one of the core issues in Black Swan Green. I think that one of the most important themes in this book is the one you mentioned about the social hierarchy continuing into adulthood. To me, this feels like one of the biggest reasons that Jason has trouble looking up to his father; Michael doesn't seem to know how to navigate the hierarchy any better than Jason does, and both them end up getting pushed around a lot because of it. Jason seems much more inclined to look up to his mother and sister, who have done a much better job of escaping social norms and blazing their own trails. Even Dean Moran, with his cool sense of defiance and indifference towards the popular kids, served as a better example of dealing with social pressure than Michael ever did.
There are a handful of moments throughout the novel when Jason glimpses this idea that adulthood might only entail further repetitions of the dynamics he's suffering through in school: the other employees dogging Danny for being the boss's suck-up and hanging out with Jason in Lyme Regis, or even Michael himself having to swallow his pride and humiliate himself in front of his son, even though he knows Craig Salt doesn't know what he's talking about when it comes to trilobytes.
ReplyDeleteWe get kind of a preview of the Craig Salt scene when we see Michael having to "absorb" Brian's obvious condescension in "Relatives" (to use your memorable phrase). But what I'd say is key in the earlier chapter is not just the fact that Michael DOES seem to routinely absorb condescension with Brian (while hopelessly and somewhat pathetically still trying to impress him) but the fact that *Jason* picks up on it. He may see a potentially future version of himself in Michael here, something of the "Maggot" part of his identity and what it might look like if Maggot were to take over. At one point, when Jason catches Brian giving Helena a "look" as Michael rifles through the traffic guide, he remarks to us, "That look got on my wick." Jason can SEE how Brian dismisses and humors his father here, and it bothers him, but he doesn't yet see the parallels between Brian-Michael and Hugo-Jason. But later in the chapter, when Hugo raises the horrifying prospect of the two of them one day waking up to find themselves transformed into Uncles Brian and Michael, Jason astutely observes how Hugo getting creepy and sexually harassing Kate Alfrick reminds him of Uncle Brian. The question is, does Jason remind us of Michael, absorbing Hugo's condescension?
Hello Lena!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that a large theme in "Black Swan Green" is the social pressures to fit-in continuing into adulthood, and Jason grappling with that. Another scene that I noticed this in was when Jason was hanging out with Danny. When Danny and Jason entered the hotel, Danny's coworkers made fun of him for taking care of their boss' kid. This dynamic is one Jason directly compares to the bullies and popular kids in his everyday life at school
Hi Lena! A key question in Black Swan Green, or any coming-of-age novel for that matter, is how your social status as a child translates to the adult world. I guess it's like the adult version of learning that Santa Claus is not real, people will continue to horrible and force themselves into arbitrary hierarchies where you need to mask to fit in. The valuable lesson that Jason learns is that this idea is just a trap: by the end he understands how it is really a choice of how much you stand up for who you are.
ReplyDeleteHi Lena! I really like the comparison between Jason's need to fit into his "friend" group and Michaels need to fit into his relationships as well. It makes me think that Jason and Michael are very similar people, at least in the beginning of the book at least. I think of the scene where Michael is very much himself, while "nerding out" about the fossils while on the beach with Jason, before running into Craig Salt and having to return to his social persona. It really shows that Michael has two sides, just like Jason's social vs. private sides.
ReplyDeleteHi Lena, I love the way you frame Jason's attempts to fit in with his father's. It was interesting to read both the contrasts between the two that you describe as well as ponder the question of whether "fitting in" is truly necessary. By the end of the book Jason comes to the conclusion it is not, however we don't know his father's position on the matter. Overall great blog!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog, Lena! I think it's really interesting (and somewhat depressing) how you note that these attempts to fit in aren't just a characteristic of teenage populations, but also a persistent characteristic of adult life. Part of what's comforting about a coming-of-age novel is the idea that times will get better as one matures and becomes more grown and developed, but the adults in Black Swan Green seem to contradict that notion. In fact, Jason often seems to be more developed and mature than adults in the novel, and that's what makes him such an interesting narrator.
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