The Moral Dilemma of Returning the Wallet
In the novel Black Swan Green we see a thirteen year old Jason undergo serious character development as we follow him through a year in middle school. During this year Jason has many adventures but also experiences constant torment and relentless bullying. Despite his suffering, these events eventually cause Jason to become a more mature version of himself and become more empathetic towards others. His actions during the chapter Goose Fair do a good job at illustrating this matured psychological state that Jason has built, particularly in the scene where he finds Ross Wilcox's (his bully's) wallet laying on the ground. Although he does decide to return it in the end, we see Jason torn between returning the wallet and keeping it for himself. The reader is made well aware that this dilemma is not as clear cut as it may seem because his hostile relationship with Ross complicates the usual moral course of action which would be to simply return the wallet to its rightful owner. But because of the complication, the obvious temptation in Jason's eyes instead is to keep the wallet as a way of punishing Ross indirectly and getting revenge against his tormentor. Yet we see that despite this temptation, Jason opts to return the wallet. Why? Overall, I thought it would be interesting to speculate on how he arrives at the surpising decision to help his aggressor.
To make it clear why his decision to return the wallet was not actually Jason's natural inclination, it's important to remember how much easier, satisfying, and beneficial it would be for Jason to keep the wallet rather than return it. Firstly, Jason gets sense of satisfaction from finally fighting back against the bully who has made his life hell over the course of the last year. Ross has gradually made a Jason a social outcast by humiliating him and picking at his at-home life as well as attacking him in and outside of school, causing him to feel powerless and alone. Therefore, taking the wallet from Ross would justifiably make him feel a similar distress. However for Ross, losing this wallet has even deeper consequences because he was meant to safeguard the money for his father. This makes losing the money especially tormenting for Ross as he is aware of the fact that his father is likely to abuse him physically for losing the wallet. This outcome is initially tempting because as Jason puts it; "I'd be pounding Wilcox into a pulp. Me. Via his dad. Why should I feel bad about that? After what Wilcox's done to me...It's the perfect revenge" (Mitchell 252). On top of this satisfaction Jason could also benefit from using the money in the wallet to buy things he wants, and more importantly, fix his grandfather's watch that he broke months before and prevent himself from facing his Dad's consequences. Clearly, Jason has some fairly solid motivation to act against Ross in this situation because it's not only easier and safer as an option but the money could fix one of his biggest problems. Despite the benefits of keeping the wallet, Jason's new moral growth complicates the urge to go with this easier option.
So what exactly convinces Jason to give back the wallet? In my opinion, I would say his decision to return the wallet is one that has come out of an empathetic realization about Ross' at-home life. Jason slowly realizes Ross Wilcox is a troubled kid from a troubled family in which his dad is abusive and his parents are divorced. No doubt, over the course of the year in which he is bullied by Ross, Jason comes to realize that, Ross' tendency to pick on others is likely a projection of the violence he experiences at home. Jason also starts to experience a lot of the same social dynamics of divorce and parental seperation in his own family which causes him to, on some level, relate to and understand Ross' character. In another display of maturity and empathy, I think its fair to assume that Jason begins to understand that just as Ross' bullying and violence has tempted him to seek revenge, inflicting more pain and violence on Ross through Ross' Dad will only worsen and perpetuate the violence that Ross then projects onto Jason. In an ironic way, it feels like by spending so much time being bullied by Ross, Jason gets to know Ross pretty well and has become cognizant of the fact that Ross' behavior is a reflection of his personal issues. Later on, he also starts to see that Ross is simply filling a social role. when Ross is horribly mangled in the motorcycle accident, Jason quickly sees the same social role filled by Neal Brose and sees the same suck-up kids aiming to gain social status by associating with him. Jason sees this transition and understands that Ross' friends are ingenuine and only associate with him to elevate their own social status. This profound realization of social roles shows Jason that these bullies aren't as powerful or as glamarous as he perceives them, causing him to take the social hierarchy less seriously and mature beyond it.
Overall, it's clear that Jason's understanding of social dynamics is a gradual realization that culminates in the chapter Goose Fair. His newfound understanding of bullies like Wilcox and the childish social hierarchy they try to establish allows him to look past his hate for people like Ross and even empathize with them. This, in combination with Jason's ability to relate to and understand the severity of Wilcox's at home life leads him to return the wallet, sparing Ross from his father.
I really like this post. I think you are getting at some crucial points of the story and the overall theme. Jason undergoes major developments in his maturity especially toward the end of the book where he returns the wallet, even though he was tempted to keep it. He also becomes an informant on the exploitation case. I like the point you make about Jason being able to slightly relate to Wilcox and feel what he constantly experiences at home, which ultimately gives Jason a better judgement when returning the wallet.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog comment!
DeleteAwesome post, I definitely agree. I think the book shows a lot of Jason's maturation out of being controlled by the changing social tides. There are a bunch of examples of him getting more and more "meta" in his assessments of the situation and his responses to bullying. The moral dilemma of the wallet is also a point where he gets more "meta" and truly starts understanding the incentives of his bullies and kind of makes his peace with it.
ReplyDeleteyeah, i completely agree. it's hard to say what i would've done in this situation, keeping the wallet from the perspective of the reader feels very tempting. i think you bring a really interesting element into it with jason's parent's divorcing, forcing jason to sympathize by comparing his own troubled home life. i think as you pointed out, jason finally sees the social hiarchy as dumb in many ways, and by the time the end of the novel comes around it's clear he has mattured past it.
ReplyDeleteGoose Fair was easily one of my favorite chapters of Black Swan Green as it does a good job displaying the maturity Jason has accumulated throughout the novel. It's also one of my favorite chapters to discuss in class as the question of "should Jason return the wallet?" or "does Ross deserve to get his shit kicked in by his father?" both have good arguments to be made from both sides and even if you don't agree with Jason's final decision it at the very least fits his character and the change he has undergone throughout the novel. Nice post.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting when you talked about the transition from Ross Wilcox bullying Jason to Neal Brose bullying Jason. How quickly Ant little and other middle-high status kids joined Brose shows the transience of their friendship. Jason realized this and that gave him the confidence to disassociate himself entirely from the social ladder.
ReplyDeleteNice post! I also agree that by this point in the book, Jason has gained the ability to overlook parts of the childish social hierarchy. Whereas the Jason in the beginning of the book would definitely kept the wallet for himself. Or at least used it to get something more out of Ross. I think it's important that Jason gives the wallet back out of empathy vs out of some sort of social tactic.
ReplyDeleteGoose fair was one of the defining chapters of this book, really allowing him to not move up or down in the social hierarchy, but break out of it completely, away from all the drama, all the nonsense, everything that had been bothering him at school was no more. Good post!
ReplyDeleteYou're right that Jason stands to "benefit" in many ways by keeping the wallet--a material "benefit" in that he'll be wealthier by orders of magnitude, but also because he has plans to reconcile his lingering guilt about the broken watch. But I'd add that there is a sense in which Jason COULD see himself as "benefiting" by returning it, and making a show of it: like, to "make" Ross acknowledge how badly he owes Jason for saving his ass, or to be seen by others "doing the right thing" and returning it (the kind of thing Holden would worry about). But he returns the wallet in secret, and sarcastically tells Ross "not to mention it." He doesn't want credit for doing the right thing, any more than he wants "credit" for Ross getting beat on his behalf (at a remove). The only ones who know that he's had this huge moral victory are HIM and ROSS, and David Mitchell deliberately withholds the expected moment when Ross drops to his knees and thanks Jason for being the bigger person. In a way that would please Holden, Jason does the right thing *without* wanting credit or praise for it.
ReplyDeleteI agree that his decision to return Ross Wilcox's wallet is a significant moment that shows how much Jason has matured throughout the novel. I appreciate your analysis of how Jason's empathy for Ross and his understanding of the social hierarchy play a role in his decision. It's also worth noting that the decision to return the wallet is not just about Jason's growth as an individual, but also about his willingness to break the cycle of violence and bullying that he and Ross are caught up in. Overall, this post highlights some of the key themes in the novel and provides a thoughtful analysis of one of its most poignant scenes.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm glad you pointed out how Jason's perspective on Ross changes in this chapter. Initially he's fearful of Ross and his power in the school's social hierarchy, and wants to get revenge. However, once he realizes the unimportance of the popularity rankings in his town, Ross no longer looms large over Jason, and he sees him as a sad abused kid who lashes out to cover it up, which is why he thinks "poor kid," after Ross insults him for like the 50th time. Glad you brought this scene up!
ReplyDelete