thesis statement jasper jones

Everything You Need to Know About Analysing ‘Jasper Jones’ for English – Summary, Context, Themes & Characters

Are you studying the book ‘Jasper Jones’ for English and struggling to come up with an analysis? W e’ll walk you through a summary of Jasper Jones with its context, characters and more to help you with your analysis.

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Jasper Jones Plot Summary Who are the Key Characters in Jasper Jones Context of Jasper Jones What are the Main Themes Explored in Jasper Jones? Book Analysis of Jasper Jones Studying this Text for HSC English

Plot Summary of Jasper Jones

The text begins in 1965 Corrigan , a fictional small town in Australia, and follows the experiences of 13-year-old protagonist, Charlie Bucktin. 

One summer evening, Jasper Jones, who is an outcast in Corrigan because of his mixed-race background, visits Charlie and asks for his help . They go to a secluded clearing in the bush where Charlie is horrified to see the corpse of a young girl, Laura Wishart, beaten and hanging from a tree.

Jasper promises that he’s innocent but he knows that because of his outcast status and shady, rebellious image, he will most likely be blamed for her murder . Charlie and Jasper throw the body into the nearby river to buy them enough time to solve the murder themselves.

The next day, Charlie spends his morning with his parents, Ruth and Wesley Bucktin. He looks up to his father and they bond over their passion for reading and writing. However, Charlie doesn’t like his mother Ruth and finds her controlling.

He spends his days with his best friend, Jeffrey Lu, a smart and humorous boy who is Vietnamese. Since many soldiers from Corrigan were sent to fight in the Vietnam War, Jeffrey faces a lot of racism from the community, such as not being allowed to play on the town cricket team. Charlie also chats with Eliza Wishart, Laura’s younger sister, and has a crush on her.

The town find that Laura Wishart is missing

Later that day, he researches murder cases that occurred in Corrigan and nearby towns, which exposes him to some horrifying insights into murders and serial killers. He finds it really difficult to digest how and why people can hurt and kill others in such gruesome ways. 

Meanwhile, a search is organised for Laura and the townspeople grow anxious as parents are fearful that more disappearances might occur. When Charlie returns home from the library, he finds that his mother is extremely worried about him and he’s punished for leaving the house without telling her.

This creates tensions between them, but his father suggests that instead of responding with anger and hatred, Charlie should be more diplomatic and polite towards his mother. 

A week after Laura’s death, Jasper finally visits Charlie again and they go to their secluded glade. Jasper tells him that he’s been arrested and beaten up by the local police because they suspect he’s involved in Laura’s disappearance .

He also tells Charlie that he thinks Mad Jack Lionel, an isolated old man, is actually responsible for Laura’s murder. Before they leave the glade, they find that someone has scratched the word “Sorry” on the tree where Laura was hanged.

When Charlie returns home that night, he learns that his parents thought he was missing and had called the police. He quickly comes up with a story about sneaking out to visit Eliza and to his surprise, they’re convinced by his story. He’s later grounded for two weeks and tensions rise between his parents as Ruth blames Wesley for Charlie’s misbehaviours. 

Jeffrey joins the cricket team

After spending two weeks indoors reading and writing, Charlie goes to watch Jeffrey finally bat for the Corrigan cricket team as a sub for another player. During the match, Eliza spots Charlie and sits next to him.

Charlie’s very shy and awkward around her but they talk, share some laughs, and daydream about living in New York, like the characters in their favourite books. Eliza tells him she thinks he’s very sweet and they kiss. Meanwhile, Jeffrey’s performance helps Corrigan win the cricket match and his teammates, even Warwick Trent, reluctantly congratulate and respect him. 

Later that night, four men visit Jeffrey’s house and destroy his father’s garden. Charlie witnesses this and screams for his father, who immediately runs to take on all four men.

He’s joined by other neighbours, who beat up the four men and offer words of support to Jeffrey and his father. Charlie’s inspired by his father’s courage but is also very upset and wonders why someone would do such a thing. 

Access Jasper Jones Book Downloadable Sample Paragraph and Examples of Analysis

Jasper and Charlie confront Mad Jack Lionel

On New Year’s Eve, Charlie plans to attend Corrigan’s traditional fireworks show. Eliza tells him she has something important to tell him but before he can meet up with her, Jasper shows up outside his window and asks Charlie to come with him to confront Mad Jack Lionel and get him to confess to killing Laura. 

When they visit Mad Jack’s house, Charlie is surprised to see that Jack is actually a lonely old man who’s unexpectedly polite and approachable . Jasper angrily informs Jack that he knows Jack killed ‘her’.

Jack cries and confesses that he did kill ‘her’ however, he isn’t talking about Laura. As they continue to talk, it’s revealed that Jack is actually Jasper’s grandfather . When Jasper’s father married Rosie Jones, a beautiful Aboriginal woman, Jack disapproved of the marriage because she wasn’t white.

Jasper’s father then chose to change his surname to Jones and Rosie soon gave birth to Jasper . Overtime, Jack changed his mind and grew quite fond of Rosie. One day, Jack was alone with Rosie when she got appendicitis and needed medical attention. Jack tried to drive her to the nearest hospital but got into a car accident along the way, which killed Rosie.

After the accident, Jasper’s father cut all ties with Jack and also never told Jasper about him . Jack tells Jasper that he thought Jasper was avoiding him because he knew about Rosie’s death but now, he realises that Jasper had avoided him simply because he didn’t know who Jack was. 

As he walks back home, Charlie bumps into Eliza, who tells him she needs to tell him something. On their way there, Charlie sees his mother with another man. Angry that she’s been having an affair, he tells her he won’t do what she says anymore.

Charlie learns the truth behind Laura’s death

Eliza takes him to Jasper’s glade, where she tells Charlie that she’s responsible for Laura’s death. She shows Charlie a letter that she found near Laura’s body and reads it to Charlie.

In the letter, Laura explains that her father had raped and abused her for years. One day, she tried to tell her mother about this, but she didn’t believe Laura. Later, she got into a fight with her father, who beat her savagely and told her to never talk about his abusiveness again.

Eliza heard some noises from Laura’s room and decided to follow Laura to Jasper’s glade where she observed the suicide. Guilt-ridden about watching her sister kill herself without saying anything, Eliza returned to the glade a few nights later and wrote ‘Sorry’ on the tree. 

Traumatised by Laura’s letter and Eliza’s explanation, Charlie then confesses that he helped Jasper throw Laura’s body into the nearby river . Jasper arrives and asks what Eliza is doing there, and they tell him everything they had talked about. As the three of them stay in the glade for the rest of the night to cope with their trauma, Charlie notices that Eliza’s upset towards Jasper and blames him for the death. 

Life after solving the mystery

The next day, they all go their separate ways and Charlie knows he’ll never see Jasper again because Jasper is leaving Corrigan for good. When Charlie returns home, his mother is packing to leave Corrigan too.

Charlie and his father are now on their own and Wesley finishes the novel he’s been working on. Charlie is the first to read it, and he loves it. 

As the summer holidays come to an end and Charlie returns to school, he decides to sneak onto Mad Jack’s property and steal peaches to impress his classmates. While he’s there, he asks Jack to do him a favour by staging a fight with Charlie, promising to make it up to him by making Jack dinner on Sunday.

This impresses his peers even more and he walks away from Jack’s house, cheered by the school children. Charlie finds it funny that it took him more courage and bravery to pick up the peaches, which were rotten and covered with bees, than to sneak onto Jack’s property. 

All of a sudden, someone sees smoke and Charlie runs towards it, seeing that Eliza’s house is on fire. Charlie sees that her parents are safe, but her father has burns on his body. He realises that Eliza was the one who set the house on fire, and realises that he’ll never completely understand her motives.

He is also confronted by the reality that Corrigan will, like always, blame Jasper for it. Charlie goes to Eliza, who calmly observes the fire, and whispers ‘perfect words’ in her ear. 

Key Characters in Jasper Jones

Charlie Bucktin 13-year-old Charlie Bucktin is the protagonist of the novel. Charlie is intellectual and an aspiring writer, which often makes him an outsider in Corrigan, where athletic skills and sporting abilities are valued a lot more than academic talents. He also loves to read and draws connections between his life and the books he reads, including notable novels such as To Kill a Mockingbird and Pudd’nhead Wilson. However, he’s still naive and innocent when it comes to the real world, and he often questions the actions of other people and the complexities of human behaviour. Throughout the novel, Charlie struggles to grasp how crimes, injustices, and racism can occur. He’s also very anxious and irrationally fearful, but as the novel progresses, he learns to overcome his anxieties and matures significantly.  

Jasper Jones Jasper Jones is a half-Aboriginal, half-white boy who seeks Charlie’s help in hiding Laura Wishart’s body and solving her murder, which sets the rest of the narrative into motion. Jasper is raised by an alcoholic and abusive father, so Jasper often resorts to stealing for survival. This, paired with his mixed race background, makes him an outcast and town scapegoat. He’s blamed for every crime or wrongdoing in Corrigan. As Charlie gets to know him better, he realises that Jasper is approachable, loyal and sympathetic, and that he is very different to the town’s portrayal of him. He slowly learns that the reasons for Jasper’s status as an outcast are far more complex than he originally thought, and are rooted in social structures more than Jasper’s behaviour/personality.  

Jeffrey Lu Jeffrey Lu, a 12-year-old Vietnamese boy, is Charlie’s best friend. He is a talented cricket player and despite facing a range of obstacles, he optimistically manages to win the respect of Corrigan and plays on the cricket team, helping them win a match. Jeffrey and Charlie share an absurd sense of humour and bond over their intellect. 

Eliza Wishart Eliza Wishart is Laura Wishart’s sister and Charlie’s romantic interest. She’s intelligent, beautiful and witty, which often leaves Charlie flustered around her and he struggles to think of witty things to say to impress her. Charlie finds her company comforting and frequently talks to her, thinks of her, or daydreams about living in New York together. Throughout the novel, Charlie suspects that Eliza knows something about Laura’s disappearance and is keeping it a secret. Towards the end of the novel, he finally uncovers what the secret is. He also finds it difficult to understand how Eliza can appear so calm and collected while simultaneously being capable of destruction and intense emotions such as rage and sorrow. 

Mad Jack Lionel Mad Jack Lionel is a recluse resident of Corrigan, who is feared by young people in the town because of different urban myths and rumours about him. As a result, children try to steal peaches from a tree on his property as a sign of courage. One of the rumours about Mad Jack Lionel, is that he once killed a woman many years ago. As Jasper and Charlie investigate Laura’s death, they learn that Jack is Jasper’s grandfather and that he got into a car accident while driving Jasper’s mother to a hospital, which caused her death. Towards the end of the novel, Charlie starts to see Mad Jack Lionel as a lonely, misunderstood old man and believes he deserves compassion and sympathy. 

Ruth Bucktin  Ruth Bucktin, Charlie’s mother, is an antagonistic figure in Charlie’s life and he sees her as cold, angry and unreasonably strict. She’s unhappy with her life in Corrigan and would prefer to be living with her wealthy parents, far from Charlie and Wesley. Charlie’s relationship with his mother is completely undone once he discovers that Ruth is unfaithful to his father. 

Wesley Bucktin Wesley Bucktin is Charlie’s father and Ruth’s husband. Wesley is very intelligent, calm and patient, who always tackles problems diplomatically. He’s one of Charlie’s biggest role models and Charlie appreciates his father’s honesty and straightforwardness. However, Charlie realises that even Wesley has his secrets, including that he is secretly working on a novel. 

Jasper Jones is set in 1965 Corrigan, a fictional small Australian town. As the 1960s were a period of major social change both within and beyond Australia , the decade was seen as a turning-point in Australian history. It was considered to be super influential on the country’s growth and development. 

During the 1960s, the USA and the Soviet Union were involved in a long and violent war in Vietnam. As an ally of the United States, Australia sent thousands of its own troops to fight alongside America.

Many of the troops faced horrific deaths, which led to a lot of criticisms within Australia about the country’s decision to fight in the Vietnam War. As a result, many Asian residents in Australia, found themselves to be victims of violence, racism and harassment. 

The 1960s also saw the rise of civil rights movements across America and Australia, which advocated against racial discrimination . In Australia, civil rights activists fought for equal rights for Indigenous Australians and criticised racism in colonised Australia. 

The second wave of feminism also emerged during the 1960s (a lot of changes were happening in this decade!) and criticised sexual harassment, double standards, and discrimination within a patriarchal society. 

This is the context protagonist Charlie Bucktin finds himself in, as he navigates growing up and coming of age in a period of major changes worldwide. 

Themes Explored in Jasper Jones

Here are some of the themes in ‘Jasper Jones’ to help your analysis: 

• Justice and Morality 
• Truth and Honesty 
• Coming of age
• Sympathy, Empathy and Understanding

Looking for a list of quotes from the text? We’ve got you covered with our Jasper Jones quotes !

How to Analyse the book, Jasper Jones, in 3 Steps

When you’re answering an English essay question, you might be tempted to start with your thesis . But it’s actually better to lay the foundations of your essay with a strong analysis ! While a good thesis is super important, you can’t get those top marks without analysing your text first. 

Once you’ve got an in-depth analysis of the text and its meaning, you can develop a solid essay response. 

Are you trying to write an essay for Jasper Jones that’s going to get you great marks? If yes, you might benefit from some personalised help with one of our English tutors in the Hills District and all across Sydney!

We’ll be walking you through an analysis of Jasper Jones with these simple steps!

Step 1: Choose your example(s)

Your example is the evidence to support your argument, so finding good examples is super important when it comes to analysing a text!

For this analysis, we’re looking at how Jasper Jones explores justice and morality within society.  We’ve chosen the following quotes as an example: 

“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…” “I understood then that maybe we really did do the wrong thing for the right reasons”

Step 2: Identify your techniques

Now that we’ve found a good example, we need to identify the techniques used within that example. Techniques help you to delve deeper into the meaning of the text and really strengthen your argument!

Try to find at least two techniques within your example to create a sophisticated and strong analysis!

In this example, we’ve identified 3 techniques: repetition, rhetorical questions, and contrast.

Step 3: Carry out your analysis 

Once you’ve got your examples and techniques, it’s time to put it all together! 

When you’re carrying out your analysis, remember that the focus should be on the effect of the techniques . As you analyse your examples and techniques, flesh out their effects and how they support your argument.

Think about what the composer is trying to express and how the techniques they use achieves this deeper meaning.

To achieve those top marks, you need to go beyond simply stating your techniques and examples. 

Rather than simply labelling techniques like this: 

Craig Silvey uses rhetorical questions and repetition as protagonist Charlie asks himself, “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…”. He contrasts this with Charlie’s realisation “that maybe we really did do the wrong thing for the right reasons”. Through this use of repetition, rhetorical questions and contrast, Silvey interrogates the complexity of justice and morality within society. 

Our analysis needs to take a deep-dive into how those techniques create meaning. This would look more like: 

Protagonist Charlie Bucktin finds himself asking a series of rhetorical questions, like “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…”. Silvey’s use of repetition and rhetorical questions provokes an emotive response from readers as they empathise with Charlie’s critique of the absence of morality and justice within society. This is contrasted by Charlie’s interrogation of his own actions to help hide Laura Wishart’s body further in the novel, as he reflects, “I understood then that maybe we really did do the wrong thing for the right reasons”. As Charlie undergoes the coming-of-age journey through a process of emotional growth, he develops a deeper understanding of the complexities of morality. He acknowledges the multi-faceted nature of morality and recognises the tension between achieving justice and meeting moral obligations. 

Studying this text for HSC Year 11 Module B: Close Study of Literature 

If you’re studying this text for HSC Year 11 Standard English Module B: Close Study of Literature , we’ve got you covered! We’ll show you how you can link your analysis to the syllabus focus questions. 

Link #1: How do the distinctive qualities of texts shape the way we respond to them?

One distinctive quality of Jasper Jones is that it’s written from a first-person narrative voice and follows the perspective of 13-year-old Charlie Bucktin.

With this perspective, we gain insights into the characterisation of a coming-of-age protagonist , which shapes how we respond to the text by encouraging us to empathise with Charlie and engage personally with the text by drawing parallels to our own experiences as an adolescent.

This shapes the way we respond to Jasper Jones emotively as Charlie progresses from childhood innocence towards maturity. 

Link #2: How do texts represent ideas and concerns from the context in which they are composed?

Craig Silvey grew up in a rural town in Western Australia, which is represented by the text’s setting of Corrigan, a fictional town in Western Australia that parallels his own personal experiences, ideas and concerns.

Delving deeper into the context in which Jasper Jones was composed, Craig Silvey talks about what he wanted to explore through Jasper Jones and discusses how he wanted to foreground the coming-of-age experience, especially “ that moment where the bubble is burst and you’re suddenly exposed to the real truth of things” .

The author’s background in relation to the composition of Jasper Jones shows how context can shape the creative decisions made when writing a text, and how these are represented through the text.

Get some essay practice in with our practice questions for Year 11 English Standard Module B !

Need some help analysing other texts?

Check out other texts we’ve created guides for below:

• All the Light We Cannot See
• Lord of the Flies
• Jojo Rabbit
• In Cold Blood
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Pride and Prejudice
• The Book Thief
• Nick and the Candlestick
• Things Fall Apart
• Mrs Dalloway

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Maitreyi Kulkarni is a Content Writer at Art of Smart Education and is currently studying a Bachelor of Media and Communications (Public Relations and Social Media) at Macquarie University. She loves writing just about anything from articles to poetry, and has also had one of her articles published with the ABC. When she’s not writing up a storm, she can be found reading, bingeing sitcoms, or playing the guitar.

• Topics: ✏️ English , ✍️ Learn

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Jasper Jones - how identity-formation relates to place

The link between locality and identity-formation is a key concern within children’s literature. Human development and character creation are inextricably connected to the place of the individual. Not only does place infer a locality in space but also in time, as such a characters chronological context is also essential in understanding the impact of place upon that person. Craig Silvey’s contemporary Australian novel Jasper Jones (2009) offers an ideal literary platform from which to investigate the ideologies and attitudes of characters due to their environment. Furthermore, the central nature of ‘place’ within Jasper Jones highlights the importance of setting within Silvey’s writing. Representations of the rural Australian town of Corrigan during the 1960’s deeply impact the tone, character development and plot construction of Jasper Jones. Language and ideology are central to the construction of Silvey’s text and function as the fulcrum upon which many of the issues within the book pivot. Jasper Jones is a multi-dimensional text which challenges conventions of children’s literature by removing behavioural certainties and black and white moral boundaries. In doing so, Silvey seeks to articulate universal ideas and concerns through a contextualised Australian lens, bringing Jasper Jones to life within the metanarrative of human experience.

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David Trigger

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Jasper Jones — The Role of Truth and Justice in Jasper Jones

The Role of Truth and Justice in Jasper Jones

• Categories: Book Review Jasper Jones Novel

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Published: Jun 29, 2018

Words: 982 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

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Adapted from the novel by Craig Silvey, Kate Mulvany’s Jasper Jones deals with dark topics of racism, rape, suicide and the stereotypes of gender roles in a light and whimsical manner through a 13-year-old Charlie’s perspective. [...]

The focus of a comparative essay can be to compare and contrast two pieces of literature, and this is the case with the To Kill a Mockingbird and Jasper Jones comparative essay. Harper Lee’s unveiling novel, To [...]

The distinct novel demonstrates the harsh climate of xenophobia, cultural stereotyping, and destructive racism that existed, as well as the fictional, patriarchal town of Corrigan. Against the social turmoil of the Vietnam War [...]

Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” is set in Victorian London and tells the story of the transformation of a wicked, miserly Scrooge into a benevolent humanitarian via supernatural intervention. The invited reading persuades readers [...]

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Jasper Jones

44 pages • 1 hour read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-4

Chapters 5-6

Chapters 8-9

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Using Literature to Broaden Perspective

Charlie is an avid reader, and this reading influences both how he thinks about the world and how others think about him. Jasper first comes to Charlie because he knows the boy has unique insights about other people thanks to his heavy reading habits. This is important to Jasper because the people of Corrigan mistreat him because of his Aboriginal heritage. People automatically believe the negative things they are told about Jasper. He believes that since Charlie reads, he will understand more of the world and other people. This is, indeed, part of why Charlie reads. After Charlie is confronted with the reality of Laura’s death and makes the decision to help Jasper hide her body, he goes to the library to read about killers because he wants to understand why people commit evil acts. Given that he does not hold religious beliefs, he cannot use religion as a means to understand evil, nor can he talk to other people about the incident of Laura’s death. Therefore, he goes to the next best source of understanding: books.

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Jasper Jones Model Essay and Structure Breakdown

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Lesson (complete)

Last updated

21 September 2023

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Save time and unpack this model essay and completed planner with students on Craig Silvey’s novel Jasper Jones. The essay explores the impact of racism on the characters of Jeffrey Lu and Jasper Jones in the novel.

The essay details:

• Thesis: Jasper Jones explores the psychological and physical impact of deep-seated racism in 1960s Australia.
• Structure: introduction, 2 x extended body paragraphs (Jeffrey and Jasper), conclusion
• Word length: 780 words
• Writing level: Year 10 / 11 / 12 standard prose and construction (UK English).

The planner includes a broken down:

• introduction
• body paragraph and
• conclusion Students are asked to circle and label the structural elements in each sentences so they can see how information is synthesised into an free-flow argument.

Teaching and Learning Suggestions:

• Give students the introduction planner first and get them to write their own introductions before reading the example introduction in the model essay
• Get students work in small groups or individually as they break down body paragraph two.
• Get students to write a better intro, paragraph and/or conclusion using the example as a starting point.

Happy teaching!

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Jasper Jones

By craig silvey, jasper jones essay questions.

How does Charlie's relationships with each of his parents differ? Do his relationships with either of them change over the course of the novel?

As Charlie grows up and becomes increasingly disillusioned with his town, his disillusionment extends to his feelings about his parents. He comes to see his mom as overbearing and unhappy with her life, and his dad as overly passive.

Discuss what Charlie learns about courage throughout Jasper Jones . What does he think courage is at first? How does this differ from the views of other people in his life?

Charlie's relationship with Jasper teaches him at first what courage looks like and eventually what courage is. He learns that bravery is a choice, and that courageous behavior primarily entails a strong poker face; you can never banish your fear, only decide to proceed in the face of it. He adopts this knowledge into his life in satisfying ways.

Compare and contrast Charlie's character with that of Holden Caufield in The Catcher in the Rye .

Both Charlie and Holden are disillusioned with their communities and have complicated home lives. Holden has access to a different kind of life, however, and uses his wealth to go on an adventure, while adventure comes to Charlie, whether he wants it or not. Holden is primarily concerned with helping himself, while Charlie is caught up in helping another person.

Many of the characters in Jasper Jones are harboring secrets. How do these secrets advance the plot? Which ones come to light and which ones don't, and what does this say about the meaning of Jasper Jones ?

Charlie, Eliza, Jasper, and Charlie's parents all harbor their own secrets. While Eliza and Jasper confide in Charlie, their secrets never leave that small circle of people. Charlie's father confides in him about his manuscript, and Charlie's mother is caught cheating on his father. The public never learns the truth about what happens to Laura, partly because Charlie, Eliza, and Jasper decide that it is best not to reveal the secret. Overall, this suggests that, while secrets can tear apart families, communities, and individual lives, the solution is not always as simple as just revealing them.

Compare and contrast Jeffery and Jasper's characters.

Charlie regards both Jeffery and Jasper as being particularly brave. Jeffery and Jasper face similar prejudices in Corrigan because of their races, but they react to this prejudice in different ways. This is due, in part, to their different home lives. While Jasper does what he wants with what he was given, Jeffery attempts to gain acceptance in town by operating within its existing structures.

Jasper Jones Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Jasper Jones is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

WHO IS CASAROLLS

Are you referring to the book Jasper Jones?

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It is not uncommon for young children to be curious about their bodies and the bodies of others, and they may engage in behaviors that are considered socially inappropriate or uncomfortable for adults. However, it is important to address any...

Masculinity

“My point is this: the more you have to lose, the braver you are for standing up.” pg. 56

“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,...

Study Guide for Jasper Jones

Jasper Jones study guide contains a biography of Craig Silvey, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Jasper Jones
• Jasper Jones Summary
• Character List

Essays for Jasper Jones

Jasper Jones essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey.

• Truth and Justice in Jasper Jones
• Jasper Jones: Justice, Agency, and Perspective
• Australian Culture and Jasper Jones
• Quick Thinking in the Toughest Times: Heroism in Seabiscuit and Jasper Jones
• Themes of Prejudice in Jasper Jones

Lesson Plan for Jasper Jones

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Jasper Jones
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Jasper Jones Bibliography

• Science & Math
• Sociology & Philosophy
• Law & Politics

Craig Silvey’s Coming of Age in ‘Jasper Jones’: Themes and Analysis

• Craig Silvey’s Coming of Age…

Craig Silvey’s critically acclaimed novel Jasper Jones could have been another cliché story about the budding relationship between Charlie and Eliza, but Silvey managed to tie romance, crime and coming of age all into one. It is a significant contributor to the engaging and relevant young adult fiction that is currently available. This novel deals with issues that are relevant to contemporary readers, despite being set in the 1960s.

Charlie Buckti n is easily the most real, relatable and important character there is. Throughout the novel, Charlie’s coming of age and awakening to the harsh real world is very similar to what modern-day teenagers experience. The transition from childhood to adulthood, the true darkness of humanity, and appearance vs reality are themes that recur constantly during Jasper Jones.

This novel begins with Charlie Bucktin being awoken by an urgent knock on the window of his room. His visitor is Jasper Jones, the outcast of Corrigan. Seen as rebellious and solitary, Jasper is a distant figure of danger and intrigue to Charlie.

Charlie sneaking out for the first time is described as “a little like a foal being born”, which is used to portray Charlie as an innocent child experiencing the world for the first time.

It symbolizes him being reborn as a new person , almost like he can sense that by going with Jasper Jones his life will change dramatically.

This experience is something many current teenagers would be able to relate to, there’s a certain turning point of adolescence when they know everything is changing.

Another significant event in Charlie’s transition from childhood to adulthood was when he saw his mother having an affair. “The walls might be falling, but I feel calm.

I really do”, the ‘walls’ represent Charlie’s childhood and youth. With this event, he knows that nothing can go back to how it used to be. This is relatable for current teenagers as broken marriages and divorce are becoming more common, even more now than when Jasper Jones was set, as divorce rates have doubled since then.

For Charlie, his parents’ expired and worn relationship was a rarity, as the belief back then was that people were ‘married for life’.  Silvey is to be praised for the ways he has been able to create a very real character that represents contemporary teenagers and their issues.

The brutal and horrendous murder of Sylvia Likens plagued Charlie with thoughts about the evil in the world and considered historical monsters, he became aware of more sinister events in the world, which ultimately led to him questioning the world even more. “And how was it that Gertrude Baniszewski could seduce so many children into committing these acts?

How could they turn up, day after day, to do the unspeakable? And how could they return home of an evening, no words or shame or remorse tumbling out of their mouths? What did Sylvia Likens do to deserve this? Or was it just shit luck and chance?”. The repetition of the word ‘how’ expresses Charlie’s confusion and lack of understanding of the darkness of humanity.

He is completely at a loss for an explanation for some of the crueler aspects of society and people, which is a very real aspect of growing up and learning about the evil there is. The use of explicit language is realistic and demonstrates that Silvey was not afraid to write a truly honest novel that was indicative of young adults.

The police physically abusing Jasper also opened Charlie’s eyes to the fact that authority figures aren’t always able to be trusted, nor will they always do the right thing.

Jasper was already aware of this, as is evident in the resigned tone he used when telling Charlie about his beating “They don’t need a reason mate… they reckon I got something to do with Laura being missing”.

This also ties in with the issue of racism and prejudice that was extremely prevalent in the 1960s but has become less so. The inexplicableness and incomprehensibility of the darkness of humanity also plagues Charlie, and many other teenagers trying to make sense of the world.

There are certain things that have no explanation. “And the folks who trouble me, the ones who, through some break in their circuits, through some hole in their heart, can’t feel it, or say it, or scratch it into trees”. The metaphor of the ‘break in their circuits’ and ‘hole in their heart’ shows that the darkness is a flaw, a problem in the fabric of what makes people human.

The repetition of the third person ‘it’ shows how foreign the concept of ‘sorry’ is to some. Charlie’s newfound confusion with why and how there are such sinister people in the world and navigating from being more sheltered as a child to suddenly learn about horrible things is still relevant for today’s teenagers.

The town of Corrigan and its people certainly have secrets , many of which are revealed to Charlie throughout the course of Jasper Jones. Peeling back the moral exterior of people reveals horrific realities. The learning that underneath someone’s appearance there can be a very jarring reality is becoming increasingly more prevalent, particularly regarding authorities. Authority figures being abusive of their powers, and not who they are thought to be, is an important issue in Jasper Jones. 

Laura’s father appears as the Shire President, a trustworthy, strong, well-respected family man, whereas he is actually “the worst of the lot of them” sexually abusing Laura, his own daughter. “Because Eliza didn’t know, never knew, that her father, the shire president, she never knew that he visited Laura’s bedroom as well. But he didn’t talk politely. He crept in, drunk. Always drunk. Always discreet”. The stream of consciousness writing shows how hard it was for Charlie to process the darkness Laura’s father had in his heart.

This is something many real teenagers struggle with, the acceptance that there are inherently bad people, even though that may not appear to be the case. Laura’s situation is also a prime example of how, back in the 1960s, it was common for people to keep secrets within their families. This was done so they did not ‘air their dirty laundry’ or feel judged by their community.

When the Sergeant who savagely beat Jasper comes to Charlie’s house and is comforting and familiar, Charlie has a difficult time reconciling these different versions of him. “I remember thinking that if I hadn’t seen the cuts and bruises on Jasper’s face for myself, I wouldn’t have thought for a second that this burly paternal copper was capable of locking up an innocent boy without charge and beating him.

If Jasper Jones hadn’t shown me the cigarette burns on his shoulders just hours before, if I hadn’t touched their ugly pink pucker with my fingertips, I wouldn’t have suspected this man to be the monster he was”. Jasper Jones as the town scapegoat is another character who is very different from what he appears to be. Jasper’s appearance is that “He’s a Thief, a Liar, a Truant” according to the town. The definitiveness of this judgment is shown by the asyndeton and capitalization, demonstrating that the town is unlikely to change its perspective of Jasper.

In reality, “Jasper Jones speaks the truth in a whole town of liars”, according to Charlie, which contrasts the entirety of Corrigan’s views. The appearance versus reality of many characters is crucial for Charlie throughout the novel, and for many teens, as they come to realize that not everything is as it seems.

By using themes that all focus on growing up and learning truths about the world, both good and bad, Craig Silvey has been able to make the character of Charlie Bucktin highly relatable to modern-day teenage readers.

Jasper Jones is one of many relevant youth novels, and it showcases the transition from childhood to adulthood, the true darkness of humanity, and appearance vs reality, which all contribute to the realness of Charlie’s coming of age. He is navigating his way through an increasingly complex society, much like contemporary readers. Despite being in completely different eras and societies, Charlie and current teens face very similar problems and issues.

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Jasper Jones

Craig silvey.

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

Charlie Bucktin , the protagonist of Jasper Jones , spends most of the novel in a state of fear. He’s afraid that Eliza Wishart , his crush, will think he’s awkward, he’s terrified of insects, and he’s frightened by bullies like Warwick Trent . The event that begins the novel—Charlie’s discovery of Laura Wishart ’s dead body hanging from a tree—is so frightening and bizarre that it traumatizes Charlie for the remainder of the book…

Racism and Scapegoating

Jasper Jones is set in 1960s Australia, where non-white people are often the targets of bullying and cruelty. Because he is half-Aboriginal, Jasper Jones is routinely blamed for other people’s crimes and indiscretions. The townspeople of Corrigan also bully and even attack the Lu family. The novel takes place during the Vietnam War, when Australia sent many troops to fight against the Vietcong. As a result, racism against the Vietnamese was very high, and the…

Understanding, Innocence, and Sympathy

As Charlie is exposed to murder, racism, and other crimes, he struggles to understand the wrongdoers’ motives, with mixed success. Traumatized and deeply confused by the sight Laura ’s dead body, Charlie goes to the library to research the other crimes that have taken place in his town. There, he discovers a string of grisly murders. In one case, the murderer was a lonely man named Cooke who had been bullied for most of his…

Appearances and Secrets

Corrigan, the small town in which Jasper Jones is set, is obsessed with appearances. The white townspeople judge non-white people like Jasper Jones and Jeffrey Lu based entirely on their appearances, and their racist preconceptions about how Asian or “half-caste” people should behave. More generally, the townspeople talk constantly about people’s appearances. Any hint of impropriety or oddness is immediately the subject of gossip.

Because Corrigan places so much stock in gossip and appearances, all…

Escape, Guilt, and Writing

One of the first pieces of information we learn about Charlie Bucktin is that he loves reading and writing. At many points throughout the novel, he uses literature as a form of fantasy, through which he can momentarily escape from his feelings of guilt and anxiety.

After Charlie’s discovery of Laura ’s body, he is profoundly traumatized, and it’s only by fantasizing about the day when he can move to New York and be a…

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