Ouroboros

     I particularly liked the ending of Black Swan Green.  Like the authors of many (if not each!) of the books we have read this semester, Mitchell leaves the novel intentionally open-ended.  Like Stephen, Holden, and Esther, we see Jason at the end having coming far in dealing with his problems, but staring into an unknown future, and we, like Jason, do not know what will happen.  It is interesting that in "disco", the chapter before the last, most of the problems plaguing Jason have been resolved: his desire to be popular, bullying, his infatuation with Dawn Madden, his grandfather's watch, to name just a few.  Though this would seem an ending itself, Mitchell chooses to end the book with a peek at what Jason will have to deal with next year: his parents' divorce, a new town, a new school, and many other problems.  However, I am optimistic that Jason is equipped to handle all of these.  He will certainly have to face issues to those throughout this novel, but he has gained some incredibly valuable insight, which cannot be taken from him.

     As he prepares to leave Black Swan Green, Jason muses on life.  Eventually, he comes to an analogy comparing "hidden steps" and developmental progress, that our faults are unseen steps which we continue to trip over until we learn from them, and fix them.  Though he remarks that after we fix one fault, we are immediately confronted with another, I think that Jason has learned from his experiences, and will not make the same mistakes to the same degree.  Jason tried several times to ingratiate himself to the popular group, and he gained only misery.  Only when he finally saw them as "hairy barbarians" was he able to be free from that.  We can surmise there will be more cruel kids at his next school, but I think he has taken this lesson to heart, as he can articulate this trend in development so clearly.  That is not to say he will not trip over the same stairs--he probably will--but we can hope it will take him less time to realize what he is doing.  This can be applied to most of the problems he faced in this book.  For instance, he has a crucial insight into what causes his stammer and realizes that if the listener judges him, he should not be ashamed.  Though we do not really see this put into action, he is at least better equipped for the future.  Jason--and all of us--will have to work through similar problems at different times is true, and this repetitive structure of time underlined by the many mirrored scenes in the novel's structure: Jason goes to the House in the Woods and meets the woman, he meets Squelch/Merv by the lake, he goes back to Mr. Rhydd's shop (and orders the crystallized ginger he had mentioned during his earlier trip there), he looks up to Julia like he did Hugo (the same line is used), and, the novel (and Jason's parents' marriage) ends with the divorce, which hearkens back to the phone call opening the book.  In this way, Mitchell presents a sort of cyclical development, as Jason goes through similar experiences, but learns from them, and then moves on to more, though some may come back, somewhat like a wheel rolling on the ground: the wheel moves in a circular pattern, coming back to itself constantly, all the while moving forward.