Out of all the chapters so far in Faulkner's novel, I think Jason's is the most unique. For starters, his thought process and experiences were a lot easier to understand, not because they were all justifiable, but because they were for the most part all happening in the present, unless he was reflecting on a memory of his. His chapter focused more on conversation over the sensations he felt over each and every experience he had, or the feelings that he mustered up by everything going on around him. This sets Jason up very vulnerably, however. Jason's opinions are overt, and for lack of a better word harsh. They speak against almost every moral ground I stand on, and I agreed with him on very little, if anything. He is, in essence, a horribly mean and corruptive person who has no care, compassion, or love for anyone around him. He is selfish in believing he is the last goo remainder of the compost family, the one to save them all, and in this way he is comparable to their mother. Readers are immediately prone to hate him as a character because his chapter begins exclusively with, "Once a bitch always a bitch, what I say." In the present day and time, this term is rarely, if ever used, and when it is the connotation is never as serious as Jason meant it to be. To anyone this name is an insult due to the pure disgust and hatred it connotes. To some, it can be used to take control or establish power, like that which is used with dogs. Reflected onto humans, the name doesn't work quite as well in today's world, when equal rights is a strong fight of the present. The entire passage following this line shows that Jason accepts nobody, that he is racist, sexist, and overall conventional like the way he was raised, but to a much bigger extreme. His voice helps the reader to understand who Jason is as a person, how he was shaped (conventionally), and how he has grown by himself (as a sexist with harsh opinions).
Throughout Jason's chapter, I was thoroughly uncomfortable because of how disrespectful he was to everyone around him. I've never really seen such blatant disrespect right before my eyes, and reading it was almost worse. I was allowed into Jason's own perspective and thoughts, and some terrible, evil beliefs were even justified for me, in a way I never thought possible.
excellent
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you said. I think that Jason is one of the most evil characters that I have ever read about. He is so focused on himself that he cannot think of anyone else being better than he is, so he justifies these thoughts with racism, sexism, etc.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you say in this honestly. I think it's really interesting however that you think this chapter is the most unique out of the book. But Jason really surprised me with the way he grew up to be: racist and sexist. I honestly thought he would grow up to be a liberal ( for his time) thinker, and a very open-minded person, because he was pretty much raised by black people and was surrounded by a loving sister and (somewhat) loving mother. But I guess that could go both ways. With his father and mother being on the stricter side, his brother killing himself, his father dying from alcoholism, and his sister being married off and treated harshly for her decisions, these events probably made Jason as hard and closed-minded as he is; he doesn't want tragedies like that to happen anymore, so now he's rough with everyone around him.
ReplyDeleteI like how you didn't just slam Jason for his negative aspects but rather gave us an explanation and spoke of him quite eloquently, even though he is a despicable character. The way you included the different connotations of "bitch" made your argument even stronger. I hadn't thought about that and what it reveals about his character. Great and helpful post
ReplyDeleteI agree that Jason's chapter was the most unique, it was also my favorite of the novel. It's true that he has much simpler thought process and also connected much of the book. It's easy to hate him but just as easy to keep on reading. See you later Ann!!!
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