Jason Taylor: Better Alone
Black Swan Green, Jason Taylor’s home town, is established in the novel not only as a location without any actual swans, but also an enclosure of informal societal rules that separate the “normal” kids from the outcasts. Throughout the first half of the book, until the “Spooks” chapter, Jason attempts to fit into this mold set by his peers both by engaging in activities he doesn’t want to and hiding true parts of his identity. This “mold” of social norms and hierarchies is established in the first chapter of the novel as Jason explains the depth behind the name you are called: “Kids who’re really popular get called by their first names…it’s all ranks, being a boy, like the army” (Mitchell 5). Though Jason self-identifies himself fairly low on this social hierarchy of names, it seems pivotal to him that he doesn’t drop even lower on this “ranking.” His desire to maintain what little status he has is clearly displayed by his choice to call his friend Dean Moran “Moron” in front of other ...