Jason and the War
I was fascinated by how much Jason develops as a person over the course of Black Swan Green , especially considering he's quite young and the book takes place over one year. Over the course of each chapter, Jason matures in some way to a various degree of significance, and his way of looking at the world and himself is altered bit by bit. One striking example of this is the chapter "Rocks", where Jason is experiencing a war-like situation at home while England is embroiled in an actual war over the Falklands with Argentina. At home, Jason's mother, Helena, is attempting to model and design the house to her own liking and would like to purchase a rockery for the backyard - of course, this whole situation isn't just about the aesthetic of the yard but her way of asserting her own beings and agency that Jason's dad doesn't really pay attention to. The situation gets pretty rocky, I might say, and a lot of information about Jason's fathers dealings come o...