44 pages • 1 hour read
Craig SilveyJasper Jones
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2009A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Bugs
Bugs serve as a physical symbol of Charlie’s fears, for just like insects, his fears pop up to dismay him at inconvenient moments. He is so afraid of bugs that he even attempts to stand up to his mother in order to avoid being in the same room with them. Initially, Charlie lacks courage and fails to stand up for those he loves as the story progresses. This is displayed when he stands by while his friends are bullied and harassed at different points in the novel. Eventually, Charlie tries to demonstrate his courage by stealing Lionel’s peaches, but this does not actually require courage because he knows that Lionel is harmless. In fact, his display of courage in that situation would be completely artificial and “phoney,” as he likes to say. When Charlie is on Lionel’s property, however, he realizes that he will have to pick up peaches that are covered in bugs. He does not want to lose the bet, and so he masters his fear and picks up the peaches. Therefore, what starts as a journey to falsely prove his bravery turns into a real journey in which he actually has to overcome a long-held fear to be brave.
A Hero’s Journey
The monomyth, or hero’s journey, is a motif used multiple times throughout the novel. During a hero’s journey, a character sets out on a journey to accomplish one thing and is presented with another that helps to aid in their growth or transformation. This process begins in Jasper Jones when Charlie goes with Jasper to the clearing that hides Laura’s body. Charlie is excited about being with Jasper and goes with Jasper because he is amazed by the boy’s reputation and by the fact that Jasper seeks him out. What he encounters is the gruesome evidence of Laura’s death, and he makes the decision to help Jasper hide the body. He comes home transformed by this journey because he has been disillusioned. He has been confronted with evil, and he has been forced to make a moral decision despite lacking clarity about the best way to proceed. This process begins his journey away from innocence.
An Lu’s Flowers
An Lu’s flowers symbolize diversity. Many of An’s flowers are exotic and are not naturally found in Corrigan. He tends his garden conscientiously, and he cares for it even when he is exhausted. As a Vietnamese family in Australia, the Lus are not part of the ethnic majority, so their very residence in Corrigan adds an unwanted element of diversity to the highly prejudiced town. Although many people respect the Lus and admire An’s flowers, not everyone is so welcoming, and the Lus suffer frequent discrimination, injustice, and even violence because they are Vietnamese in Australia during the time when Australia was sending troops to fight and die in the Vietnam War. Some of the men from the town, including Trent, come and destroy Lu’s garden because they use the Lus as a way to vent their anger at the larger political situation. When faced with the violence against Lu and his property, Wes and other men stand up to the bullies and fight them off, saving Lu more personal injury. This demonstrates that while the Lus face real and sometimes dangerous prejudice, there are people in Corrigan who are willing to put their own safety at risk to keep them safe. This shows that creating a more diverse society is possible even though it is not easy.
