Hugo's Discussion with Jason
One thing that stood out to me in the novel Black Swan Green by David Mitchell was the discussion and interactions between Hugo and Jason. In the end, I think the fundamental ideas that Hugo passed onto Jason lay the foundations for what characteristic changes/improvements Jason encounters throughout the novel.
The first thing that stood out between their interactions was the automatic interest and respect that Jason seemed to feel for Hugo. Jason immediately wants to learn more about him and wants to have an excuse to study him openly at the dinner table. I think this is partly because he feels how comfortable Hugo is in his own character. For example, he talks about how the name Hugo would be something that kids at his school would make fun of, however, it seems to fit Hugo. I think this feeling of confidence in one’s self is what makes Jason attracted to Hugo’s character.
Another thing that stood out to me was Hugo talking about Jason’s ‘not today’ attitude. He talks about how other people at Jason’s school feel that Jason does not want to do things and is ultimately cowardly. They know that Jason will never stand up for himself and fight back. This cowardliness and unconfidence that Jason has is something I felt Hugo pinpointed extremely well.
We see Jason ultimately work on these aspects of himself throughout the novel. Most notably he is more comfortable with his identity being a poet towards the end of the novel and tries to stand up more regarding his bullying and social status. He is also bold about choosing to hang out with Dean rather than conforming to the social patterns of the ‘popular’ people at his school. I ultimately feel that his conversation with Hugo is what laid the foundations for what Jason needed to change about himself to ‘come of age.’
I definitely agree with you that Hugo had a major influence on Jason. He idolized hugo and it is very apparent in the way Jason matures throughout the novel.
ReplyDeleteThere's definitely no doubt that he had an awakening after his interaction with Hugo, but I think his time with Hugo gave him confidence and helped him be his own person. His interaction with Hugo starts off well, but as they keep talking I think Jason starts to become disallusioned by Hugo and it shows him that Hugo isn't as perfect of a role model as he thought. Because of this, I think Jason stops idolizing Hugo and starts to forge his own personality after this chapter, making him a more confident and mature person. Either way his interaction with Hugo is very defining for his character.
ReplyDeleteEven though Hugo is clearly not a great person, I think his effect on Jason was beneficial, as the conversation about Jason's "not today" attitude had a great impact on the rest of the novel, and may have contributed to Jason's decision to "block out the consequences" and smash Neil Brose's calculator in the climax of the novel. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI also agree that Hugo is a sharp contrast from the rest of the kids at Jason's school. At Jason's school, Hugo would be bullied for things like his name and how posh he is. But when Hugo does come to Black Swan Green, he impresses the local kids with his confidence and arcade skills. Whereas the kids in BSG dislike Jason for his wealth and intelligence, the one thing Hugo is impressed by from Jason is his poetry.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that Hugo was partly responsible for giving Jason the confidence to stand up to his bullies. I also think Jason was able to grow past Hugo's level of confidence and maturity by the end of the book. I don't think Jason from the last chapter would be as easily pushed around by Hugo as he was at the beginning of the book. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThis is a really complicated case, and I'm glad you opened the subject of Hugo's valid and valuable influences on Jason despite the overall cruelty of these interactions. It's easy for US to see that Hugo is just amusing himself the whole time, fully aware of Jason's worship and exploiting it at every turn. When he gives that rousing "not today" speech, he's cynically trying to talk Jason into trying a nasty cigarette so he'll vomit and Hugo can have a good laugh. He doesn't "mean" any of it. And yet, could it still be something that Jason actually needs to hear? Can he actually come away with something valuable from this generally negative experience?
ReplyDeleteThere is SOME progression evident over the course of the novel, in terms of Jason's worship of Hugo--in the second "January Man," when his dad asks about the holiday visit to the Lambs', Jason remarks that Hugo was "smarmy as ever." And he's JUST learned the word "smarmy" (a very Hugo word, maybe not the kind of thing the old Jason would've been comfortable saying around the cool kids) from Holly Deblin, describing Neal Brose. So Jason now sees the common denominator between Brose and Hugo (both in a sense presume to give him "popularity lessons" for cynical reasons), and he confidently dismisses Hugo as smarmy. It's a great word for him!
The perception of Hugo as someone cooler than him, someone to aspire to be, really affected Jason, and I think it helped his evolution as a character throughout the book tremendously. If not for Hugo, I don't think we would have the same Jason we had at the end of the book. Good post!
ReplyDeleteVery insightful post! It is interesting to note how Jason is drawn to Hugo's confidence and self-assured nature. This admiration inspires Jason to work on his own insecurities and stand up for himself. The novel does an excellent job of showing Jason's growth as he becomes more comfortable with his identity as a poet and takes bold steps to assert his independence. Overall, the interactions between Hugo and Jason serve as a catalyst for Jason's coming of age journey.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I don't think that much about Hugo when I think about the general trajectory of the story, so this blog was very interesting to read! I especially like how you specify that Jason is specifically jealous of Hugo's confidence, portrayed in the book by Jason speaking about Hugo's name and the way he makes it work well. I like how you show that Jason replicates that by growing more confident in the things about himself that other kids might make fun of.
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