Jasper Jones

“You’ll see it, Charlie. Shit. You’ll’ve wished you didn’t, but you’ll see it. It’s not too late but. Are you sure you’re gonna help me?”

Once Charlie sees Laura’s dead body, he cannot remain innocent and uninvolved, and Jasper understands this. Out of fairness, he gives Charlie one more chance to decide whether he will become involved before his life changes forever.

“That’s what you do, right? When you’re readin. You’re seeing what it’s like for other people.”

Jasper explains that Charlie’s literary pursuits given him the ability to understand other people’s perspectives, unlike the prejudiced townspeople. The people of Corrigan believe whatever they are told about Jasper without really trying to figure out if it is true. Jasper understands that Charlie’s reading allows him to see the world from perspectives other than his own.

“But around that is a thin layer of grime. It looks like the chalk outline of a murder. Like I died during the night. Or I shed my skin like a snake.”

Because he went to bed dirty after disposing of Laura’s body, Charlie wakes up to this dirty outline, which symbolizes the death of Charlie’s innocence. He believes at first that he has helped to cover up the evidence of a murder. Snakes are often symbolic of evil, and while Charlie did not act out of evil intent, he knows that what he did was wrong even if he did it for the right reason.

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

These words illustrate the main point that the novel makes about bravery: namely that in order for a person to develop courage, they must have something to lose. Charlie’s lack of courage is frequently juxtaposed with Jeffrey’s courage when Jeffrey is willing to stand up for others, and Charlie is not.

“I wonder why it can’t carry on. Why Jasper Jones has to strip off his shirt and hand it back at the end. And I wonder why Jeffrey can’t even get a slice of that, fleeting as it is.”

Charlie considers how unfairly people are treated. At the time he thinks these thoughts, no one will give Jeffrey a chance to play cricket, and Jasper is only accepted by the townspeople during football games because of his playing abilities.

“And I have a lazy son. Both of them are painful. I’ll give you some iodine when you’re done. Come on! Dig! Is that your shirt? Get it out of the dirt, you filthy boy! Now! Show some respect for your things!”

Charlie’s mother says this to her son when she comes out to talk to him as he is digging the hole. In this passage, the author demonstrates how little respect Ruth has for Charlie, for her diatribe betrays distinct aspects of frequent verbal abuse. The scene also serves to foreshadow the future revelation of her other faults, as well as her infidelity at the conclusion of the book, for she is clearly bitter and dissatisfied with her life here in Corrigan and with her family.

“All I’m trying to show you is how quickly reason can be put aside once things like panic and fear start to seep in. Especially in a town like this, where people gossip like they’re bloody spies.”

In this quote, Charlie’s father talks to him about Laura’s disappearance. Wes understands the dangers that can befall people and society when they give in to fear. Given that Wes has no knowledge of Charlie’s involvement, the passage also serves as an example of dramatic irony and raises tension as the potential consequences of Charlie’s actions start to become clear. Some of these consequences will be seen later in the novel through the treatment the Lu family receives.

“And I’d tell him that life might be easier if you give in a little, but it’s better if you hold on to something so hard you can’t give it up.”

Charlie narrates these words as he considers the book he wants to write. A main theme of the novel is that people must be willing to let others go when they love them, thus demonstrating The Role of Freedom in Personal Growth, but Charlie has not learned this lesson yet.

“Strangely, of all the horrible things I’ve encountered and considered recently, dropping a bomb seems to be the least violent among them, even though it’s clearly the worst. But there’s no evil mug shot, no bloody glove. It’s hard to figure out who to blame. There’s something clean about all that distance.”

Charlie thinks about this as he considers the bomb that killed Jeffrey’s family members in Vietnam. Because of his recent experiences, he has been contemplating the nature of evil and trying to understand it by learning about murderers. Here, he comes to an understanding of the ruthless nature of murders that happen up close.

“What kind of lousy world is this? Has it always been this way, or has the bottom fallen out of it in the past couple of days? Has it always been so unfair? What is it that tips the scales so? I don’t understand it.”

This novel is a bildungsroman, and as such, it tells the tale of Charlie’s coming of age and maturation in the world, especially as he learns that the world has always been unfair. As he grapples with the recent events surrounding Laura’s death and the larger issues of racism amongst the Corrigan townspeople, Charlie becomes more and more aware of his culture’s many injustices. For example, Jasper has never been treated fairly, and he eventually finds out that crimes like incest and murder have always plagued society. Because Charlie is growing up, however, the novel outlines his progress at recognizing and acting to mitigate the injustices that surround him.

“Bugger it. There is nothing directing this stupid play. There can’t be. If there is, He’s a crueler bastard than they give Him credit for.”

When some people are faced with evil and suffering, they start believing in God. This is not the case for Charlie, who has been predisposed not to believe in God from the beginning of the novel. For him, the problem of evil turns him even more firmly against faith and religion.

“Nobody even thought to help her.”

Charlie thinks these thoughts after Mrs. Lu is attacked. He is disgusted because nobody comes to her defense. What he does not acknowledge is that he also fails to defend her, just as he fails to come to Eliza’s defense when she is sexually harassed in front of him.

“I try to reason it through as Atticus Finch might. But it’s hard when Jasper seems so resigned to this scenario, as though he’s accepted it as true.”

These words are an example of the way Charlie seeks out his literary heroes when he faces problems and has decisions to make. He does not believe in God, but he does believe in the morals of the characters who populate his books.

“This might be one of those rare events that lasts, one that’ll be remembered and recalled as months and years wind and ravel.”

These words illustrate Charlie’s feelings about Jeffrey’s cricket victory. They show how significant the joy is at this moment, and this joy is notable because it will be followed that evening with intense sorrow and pain, demonstrating that both exist in life.

“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, insipid sissy. Because right now I know I would save the girl.”

Eliza has just kissed Charlie, and this helps him to mature somewhat because it allows him to see that there is something heroic inside of him. At this moment, he does not have to act heroically, but he is finally confident in his ability to act heroically, should he one day need to protect the person he cares for.

“But Sorry, really, is not about you. It’s theirs to take or leave.”

The characters in this novel make mistakes, and some of those mistakes are egregious enough to cause the deaths of others. Charlie realizes that since everybody makes mistakes, it is only those who are strong enough to apologize who are really good. For Charlie, the ability to apologize is a strength.

“The temptation to end the misery and mystery, to make amends, to try and explain it, to carve that word. But doing so will put Jasper Jones in jail. And maybe me too.”

Charlie wants to tell Eliza what he and Jasper did, but he cannot because such a confession would get his friend in trouble. The urge to tell is overwhelming, and he demonstrates strength when he avoids sharing what he knows in order to save his friend.

“I watch him walk. Straight-backed, chest full of air. And I see it now, just how counterfeit his confidence is. It’s a noise, a distraction, hot air. It’s Batman’s cape; it’s my father’s comb-over.”

This is the moment when Charlie first begins to understand both Jasper and fear. He understands that Jasper is afraid, and he will see that Jasper will do what he needs to do despite that fear. Here, Charlie believes his father’s comb-over is a ruse, but he will soon learn that it is his mother who wants Wes to use the comb-over, not his father.

“When I’m back in my room, it feels like the first time I’ve ever walked into it. Nothing feels like home anymore. Even my skin, my clothes, my smell. Everything feels different.”

Charlie comes of age in this novel. Because he changes, the things that have always stayed the same, like his room, feel different. Through the realizations he makes in the novel and his encounters with evil, he becomes disillusioned, and his eyes are opened.

“Perhaps they didn’t have a clue either. I certainly didn’t. Maybe they were all like me. They just feared the myth of Mad Jack Lionel without properly knowing the nature of the lie that fed into it.”

Charlie thinks these thoughts about the other children in town. All along, he has criticized the town for being closed-minded, but here, he finally associates himself with the rest of the town and realizes that they may be no better or worse than he is.

“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.”

This is what Charlie thinks right before he explains what really happened with Laura. The veil has been lifted, and he sees the world and evil more clearly than he did as a child. He wishes that he could go back, but just like nobody can go back to childhood, he cannot go back to not knowing the uncomfortable truths that surround him.

“Laura Wishart wasn’t kidnapped by Mad Jack Lionel. But it seems she was snatched away by something infinitely more sinister and terrifying. By the same thing that had us pursuing Lionel in the first place. The same thing that’s thieved my appetite and kept me awake and has me shying away from dragonflies. The thing that makes this town so quick to close in on itself and point its finger, that had it closing its doors and calling its children inside. She just couldn’t hold on anymore. She had no one to shield her from it.”

Charlie never defines specifically what this thing is, but because he references Lionel and closed-mindedness and people keeping their children inside, it is likely that he is referring to fear. Throughout the novel, fear is the challenge that many people, particularly Charlie, must overcome. Laura was not able to do this when she was on her own.

“Maybe just gently rubbing her shoulder blades is infinitely more useful than saying something right and trite, or reciting some stupid poem. Maybe I’m finally doing the right thing.”

Here, Charlie demonstrates an understanding that people can show affection and comfort in physical ways as well as through words. All along, Charlie has sought the correct words to say, but he is able to show comfort physically at this point.