Black Swan Green Character Analysis

The iconic 13 year old Jason Taylor of David Mitchell’s “Black Swan Green” is a unique character that experiences many traumatic moments involving other characters and various conflicts, which all impact his “fractured” soul. Every moment displays a unique characteristic about him, defining him as a person. Jason's momentous sexual experiences seem to magnify his fractured self the most, including his interaction with Dawn Madden on the tractor, his meeting Sally at the beach, and especially his interaction with Tom Yew and Debbie Crombie under the tree, proving that his immaturity for sex seems to have the greatest impact.

In the chapter “Bridle Path”, Jason walks upon his crush, Dawn Madden, who appears to be sitting in a tractor, another

In the chapter “Bridle Path” directly after his encounter with Dawn in the tractor, Jason climbs a tree to carve both his and Dawns initials into, but is immediately interrupted by Tom Yew and his girlfriend, Debbie Crombie. Instead of leaving the tree, he stays and observes, not knowing that Tom and his girlfriend were about to have sex. As soon as they start having sex, Jason is intrigued. He notices the different details of both Tom and Debbie, including Debbies shaped breasts, and Toms swordfish tattoo. Jason describes the sex in poetic details, describing the motions of Toms body, along with the facial expressions Debbie makes. After they have sex, Jason is confused with what he has just witnessed. He thinks, “I felt hungry and nervy and sick and jealous and sluggy and shamed and many things. Not proud and not pleased and not like I ever wanted to do that”(90). This is symbolic of his immaturity, for he doesn't understand what sex is, and doesn’t understand the feelings and emotions.The irony in this quote is that Jason has always wanted to experience sexual tension with someone, but as soon as he sees it, he feels utterly ashamed and denies he would ever do it. He doesn’t understand why Tom and Debbie sounded like inhumanly creatures, or why Tom made such strange movements with his body. This correlates back to his fractured self, for even though he wants to

In the chapter “Souvenirs”, Jason encounters a group of girls on a beach, and is intrigued by the sight of one of them, Sally. He is so intrigued by the girl named Sally, that by the mere sight of her, he “excites himself” . He describes her skin by the smell of warm sand, and compares her to Dawn Madden, giving himself the biggest boner ever. And when she encounters him for the first time, his only thoughts are that“My hidden boner was about to explode, killing everyone in Wildest Dreams Amusement”(171).” Even in a normal conversation, he can’t control his hormones. Even though she blew on a popsicle in the most innocent, yet sexual looking way ever, Jason was way too immature, for he could’t control himself in a non-sexual situation. Anything a girl does is sexy, even when she’s showing normal acts of kindness, or is minding her own business, he doesn’t have the willpower to control himself.This takes part in his fractured self, for his immaturity shows that he can’t be a genteel boy around a girl without getting a boner, thanks to the experience with Dawn Madden on the