Jasper jones is a fictional story written by Craig Silvey, then later adopted for stage by Kate Mulvany in 2014. The story is based in Western Australia, a small town called Corrigan in the 1960’s. during this period, the Vietnam war is taking place, which affects a few characters in the story. The story is the character, Charlie, a 13-year-old boy who stays at home reading books, is confronted by one of the hardest choices and secrets he must keep. We follow him through his journey and watch his bravery, the damage of secrets, witnessing racism and family problems within Charlie’s family and his friend’s families.
Charlies bravery is pushed to the limit in this play, showing the audience that Charlie can push himself to the limits, which even surprise’s himself. Right at the start of the play where Charlie had to leave Laura’s body in the dam, Jasper said to Charlie “you look you gotta get brave, like me. I’d never let you get in trouble.” This truncated sentence shows the audience that Jasper needs Charlie, and believes Charlie can help him, even when Charlie thinks he can’t. It shows that Jasper is desperate Charlies help. Another act of bravery is when Jasper says to Charlie “You’re just gonna have to get brave in a hurry now, Charlie. Understand.” The effect of characterisation in this, defines a better understanding of Charlie and builds a stronger character for himself. Later, in the story Jasper says to Charlie “You gotta get brave, Charlie. Come on.” The use of rhetoric in this sentence shows that jasper can influence Charlie to become braver than he thinks he is and go into Mad Jacks house. Jasper can help Charlie to show his bravery throughout the story, making Charlie a better person, to help jasper find out what happened Laura. The bravery of Jasper and Charlie keeping those secrets play a huge roll in the story as they aren’t the only people in the town who has secrets.
Secrets in Jasper jones reviles different amounts of information about Laura’s death, secrets about her, why she did what she did, Charlies family issues, Jaspers Grandfather, and Jasper and Charlies investigation. Near the start of the play jasper said “this is my place. This is where I spend most of my time. It’s my place.” The use of secrecy builds trust between the two characters, Jasper opening and inviting Charlie into a place Jasper loves most. When Mad jack said “Jasper, I’m your grandad.” that changed the story completely with using secrecy. Jasper found out who Mad Jack ‘killed’ what happened to his mother, and who Mad Jack was. Another example in the story is when Charlie finds out Eliza watched her sister kill herself. “this is what happened. My sister stood up. She climbed that tree. She walked across this branch. She tied a rope around her neck, and she jumped.” The use deduce unfolds the story from a new aspect we haven’t seen before. The boys find out what really happened, completely changing the story. In Jasper Jones secrets always came out for the better or worse, changing the story or even the characters. Secrets are within a lot of the families, that damage and effect each other and are quite evident in Jasper Jones
Family secrets can be damaging, however can reunite people together, as we see in our story. Jasper finding out about his grandfather, Eliza writing the note to her mum, and Charlies mum revelling the truth about her cheating. “Jasper, I’m your granddad.” This use of sensory, throws a spanner in the works for the situation they were just in and completely changes the mood. The reader/audience shocked with a surprise brings a great plot twist. “she wrote about everything. About her life. About her family… about the things dad did to her there.” Using Parataxis builds tension to the story to the truth of Laura’s death. The mother is put into a difficult position to either tell the town what her husband did, or not know where her child rest. Mrs Bucktin (Charlie’s mum) opens up to Charlie near the end of the story saying “stinking men and bored women and incessant head and filthy flies and fu#$(*@ on a back seat. Just to feel something…” the use of expletives shows us her the pain she feels when living in this town, how she hates it there and wants a new life. The Negativity is powerful and changes the mood in the scene.
Jasper written by Craig Silvey, then later adopted for stage by Kate Mulvany, displays a bunch of different themes to the text. Jasper Jones is a text of stark contrast and it is displayed by bravery, cowardice and secrets. The use of truncated sentences, secrecy and parataxis builds the story to what it is.
