First Thoughts on Black Sawn Green
Black Sawn Green by David Mitchell is the
most "current" book that we have read all semester. All the books we
have read so far are around or before 1960. This book is in 1982 so
comparatively it is very modern. 13-year-old Jason is just a few years older than
my parents, so it is cool to see how the pop culture he has is something that
my parents also experienced growing up. Jason's reference to Star Wars is a
great example, my dad was super into that growing up. And even now Star Wars
movies are still coming out and my little brother LOVES them.
I think Jason so far (I
have only read the first chapter) is a character that we can all relate to in
some way. Some of the jokes Jason and the guys at the lake are jokes I have
definitely heard. For example, a group of teenage boys calling everything
"gay". Subbie year everything was "gay" or there were the
"no homo" jokes. Even 30 years later we have the same ones.
Another example I think is the sibling dynamic
that Jason and his older sister Julia. We talked about this in class how we do
take some small pleasure in out siblings getting punished. And while I do not
think we all have such tense relationships as Julia and Jason I think we all
have called our siblings names at some point (at least I have).
I think even the games
we play are similar, instead of British Bull dogs we have games like Sharks and
minnows or freeze tag. While our games are not as violent they are still something
that a group of kids can easily play at a park or during school. Jason referenced playing British Bulldogs during school at that reminded me of when the whole class
would play freeze tag for all of reassess.
Do you think Jason and
his world are relatable to outs today? Or do you think that the time and culture
difference make it to different?
I definitely recognize toxic masculinity and homophobia in the way Jason sees himself and his peers, concepts that are obviously still around today. However, if Jason insulted one of his classmates by calling them "gay" today, I think he'd face more backlash and ultimately get shut down. That being said, it would depend on where he grew up.
ReplyDeleteI think there are definitely a lot of similarities to today, in terms of the fact that homophobia persists, and although (I think) not quite to the same degree? (A dubious statement). But I think that there is a cultural/time difference that is super evident, especially because the book is so full of references that can place the context in time and place so precisely.
ReplyDeleteI think there are a lot of quintessential elements of childhood, especially in a smaller town, that Black Swan Green captures that I think a lot of us who grew up in CU relate to. The different groups of kids, the social structure, just knowing everyone in your school and area, all feel very familiar to me. Also hiding certain parts of yourself and exaggerating other parts feels very familiar, but maybe that's just me.
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