Topic > A Theme of Fear in Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey

Jasper Jones, by Craig Silvey, is an Australian novel published in 2009 about the life of Charlie Bucktin, a book-loving fourteen-year-old, and how it changes after Jasper Jones, a half-white Aboriginal, shows him the body of Laura Wishart. Jasper Jones is a novel about the injustice, racism and social exclusion that exists in Australian society in 1965. Fear is explored extensively in Jasper Jones and forms the foundation of ignorance and racism. Jack Lionel, Jasper Jones and the Lus are victims due to the town's ignorance and prejudicial behavior. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Jack Lionel is a victim of the town's ignorance that Charlie and Jasper are influenced to believe. It all started when Jasper's mother Rosie was killed in a car accident and Jack was blamed for the accident, resulting in rumors that he was "crazy". The lack of information about Jack throughout the novel until the end raises questions in readers about who he really is and creates a sense of fear at the name "crazy" Jack. Both Charlie and Jasper give in to the rumors and speculation surrounding Jack, Jasper even drawing his own conclusions as to whether he was the one who killed Laura. When they finally discover the truth, they realize that the citizens "simply feared the myth." These rumors reached the point that the Corrigan company was terribly afraid of him. Over the course of the story, readers learn that Jack shouldn't be feared at all, why would a "murderer" allow children to rob him? This discovery reveals the valuable lesson that fear is often the byproduct of ignorance and outright stupidity. Readers, along with Charlie and Jasper, begin to understand that everything the town believed about Jack was simply fear and ignorance clouding their judgment. This is a very important issue as they feared a man who had done nothing wrong by conjuring their own mind. Silvey uses racism and prejudice as the basis for the underlying fear he explores through the character of Jasper. Jasper represents the small-town prejudice that has earned him a reputation as "a thief, a liar, a thug, a truant." The capitalization of these labels demonstrates the dominance of assumptions in the community, supporting Jasper's vulnerability to scapegoating, and the accumulation of these derogatory descriptions emphasizes the known negative connotations of being an Aboriginal Australian in the 1960s. He receives the blame for all crimes regardless of his fault or culpability, foreshadowing the impending incident that occurs in chapter 5. It is clear to Charlie that Jasper's mixed race has a lot to do with his reputation, which is why he accepts not to do it. go to the police. Jasper fears being blamed for Laura's death, telling Charlie that if they go to the police, they will pin the murder on him. They will see that it is Jasper's sanctuary, they will see Laura's beaten body, they will see his rope and they will lock him up without a second thought, without caring if he is innocent since he is "only half animal with half vote" (p. 30). This use of anthropomorphism shows that Jasper is not even counted in the population census along with the other citizens. His fear of being blamed is demonstrated in chapter 5 when the police bring him in for questioning. They unjustly lock him in a cell and brutally beat him to get answers about Laura. This reveals the irony in the fact that an institution created to serve justice is capable of being so unjust and multifaceted, using cruelty to achieve its goals. It's also ironic that Pete.