Jasper Jones Prejudice Quotes

Knowledge of context is crucial to correctly interpreting an Authors presented ideas and responding accordingly. Jasper Jones is a bildungsroman novel written by Australian author Craig Silvey. The novel follows the story of 1st person protagonist Charlie Bucktin as his world “Breaks and spins and shakes” after he follows the “town outcast” Jasper Jones and witnesses the hanging body of a girl in a forest glade. The ideas of the hypocrisy of racism, the injustice of prejudice and the gulf between appearance and reality have been constructed through characters such as Jasper Jones, Jeffry Lu and Mr Wishart.
1960s Australia was a racist and bigoted nation. Commonly referred to as ‘Australia for the white man’, society was dominated by colonisers

With many thousands of Australian troops being sent to the front to fight against the soon to be communist nation, fatalities and heartbreak were inevitable across Australia. Jeffry Lu and his Parents Mr and Mrs Lu are Vietnamese, meaning that they face the severe and unjust bullying, discrimination, and abuse, for the situation in their home country. Charlie’s “best and only friend”, Jeffery Lu, is “ruthlessly bullied and belted” at school and in the community. Jeffery, who is described as “too polite” by Charlie’s parents, continuously falls victim to the unjust prejudice behind bullying somebody for a reason out of control. In addition, Jefferies Mother, Mrs Lu, had her cup “slapped” out of her hands during a town meeting “scalding her skin”, by an angry and bitter, Sue Linday. Contextual knowledge is crucial here, in understanding that Sues Husband had been killed in the Vietnam, and her son had just been enlisted in the Vietnam war, which caused her violent outbreak. Mrs Lu is described as “shaking” following the incident, “quietly reaching for a serviette” highlighting her calmness and dignity towards the stressful situation. The idea of the injustice of prejudice is prevalent here as in 1960s Australia, assaulting a quiet, dignified Vietnamese woman was socially acceptable. Furthermore, Jeffries Father, Mr Lu, who is renowned for having the most beautiful and manicured garden in all of Corrigan, has it “razed” and ripped up

To be town president means a large responsibility of power and control over the people and involves being a role model for behaviour and morals. In the novel, town president, Mr Wishart is constructed to convey the idea of the gulf between appearance and reality present in society, after becoming drunk on power. Mr Wishart is constructed as an abusive rapist towards his daughter “infecting her with a milky poison” and causing her “fall from grace”. This highlights his real character as an abusive rapist behind closed doors, compared to the social figure in the town. In addition, Mr Wishart has strong racial views, showing extreme discrimination towards Aboriginal people behind closed doors. Jasper Describes Mr Wishart as being the “worst of the whole lot” after kicking and spitting and punching Jasper to force his confession on the location of his missing daughter. Jasper also describes him as having a strong odour of “turps” (alcohol) despite driving and working throughout the day. This demonstrates how somebody with a lot of power like Mr Wishart, can become drunk on power allowing them to get away with abuse and racism in their private life, while maintaining a respectful and ‘role model’ social public