Jasper Jones Quotes

Within the novel 'Jasper Jones,' the darker aspects of humanity are brought to light through the discrimination and secrecy present in Corrigan. However, despite these struggles, the novel reminds us of the importance of friendship and trust, highlighting the positive aspects that come with overcoming hardship. Australian author Craig Silvey addresses the negative themes that existed during Australia in the mid-1960s in a small Western Australian town. The story follows protagonist Charlie Bucktin, a young boy who is drawn into a web of secrets and lies after he befriends Jasper Jones, a mixed-race boy who is blamed for the murder of a young girl, they navigate their way through a town corrupted with discrimination and Charlie discovers the

Jasper Jones is an Aboriginal Australian boy living in a small predominantly white town and despite being kind-hearted, talented footballer, he “has a terrible reputation in Corrigan” since he is seen as “a thief, a liar, a thug, a truant.” He is viewed as an “outcast”, blamed for things he never did and generally subjected to racist abuse by the towns people. Similarly, Jeffery Lu, who receives bullying, taunts and name-calling such as “Cong” from his classmates and towns people due to him being Vietnamese. He’s treated as inferior and excluded from many opportunities, one instance of this is when Jeffery is not allowed to play cricket with the other boys, despite his obvious talent. "We don't want you playing cricket with us," one of the boys tells him. These two examples highlight the racism that was generalised in Australia during the 1960’s.Moreover, there’s Charlie who although is a white Australian boy, experiences physical and emotional bullying from his classmates who ridicule him for his interests, intelligence and bookishness by beating him and calling him names such as “freak” and “nerd”.The discriminatory, prejudice and stereotypical thinking that caused Jasper Jones, Jeffrey Lu, and Charlie Bucktin to experience harmful intolerance and

Through the characters of Charlie Bucktin, Jeffery Lu, Jasper Jones, and Eliza Wishart, Silvey explores the importance of friendship in the face of adversity. Starting with Charlie saying that "[Jeffery] could … see the person [Charlie] kept hidden from the world." This shows the importance of having a friend like Jeffery to Charlie as he doesn’t feel the need to hide himself as he sees him for who he truly is. Furthermore, there’s also Charlie and Jaspers friendship which was characterized by a deep bond of brotherhood, trust, and loyalty. This is evident due to everything they went through together with Jasper being “… the only person [Charlie] could trust”, and then becoming “like a brother to [Charlie]”. Charlie and Eliza's friendship/relationship is a source of comfort for both of them as they understand each other and have a shared sense of humor. Eliza's confession that "[she] feel[s] safe with [Charlie]" highlights the depth of their connection and the importance of feeling having a person you feel safe around in times of struggle. Silvey depicts the significance of friendship in providing a sense of safety, support, and trust during difficult times, this was shown through Charlie's friendship with Jefferey Lu, Jasper Jones, and Eliza Wishart as the book explores the various ways in which these characters