Aviation: It's the new sensation

An oddly common motif throughout Black Swan Green is that of birds: Jason lives in a town with "swan" in it, and he also attends a goose fair, during which he makes a crucial decision regarding his own principles (choosing to return the wallet to notorious asshole Ross Wilcox). Now, that's not a lot, but it's weird that it's happened twice. We can do something with this.

    "Black Swan Green hasn't got any swans." This sentence is one of the first things we hear about the town from Jason. It's a quick little quip, something that could be easily passed off as world building. And yet, at the end of the book, when Jason is contemplating the many changes his life has gone through in such a short time, what does he see? A swan. 

Swans are very common symbols in literature, and mean many different things, but one I'm choosing to focus on one specific meaning: that of elegance and femininity. Jason is embarrassed about his poetry; the hypermasculine boys at his school would absolutely mock him for writing it. He writes under a pen name as so not to be found out. Yet, by the end of the book, Jason has both embraced his love of poetry and has also rejected the boys he once wanted to be accepted by, showing a significant change in his outlook and perception of himself. 

 Another thing related to femininity: by the end of the book, Jason has experienced multiple major events that have changed his worldview. Two of those happen to be heavily related to women: Jason kisses the new girl at a school dance, and Jason's father confesses his infidelity to Jason's mother. These are both examples of women affecting Jason's life in a major way: his first kiss, often seen as a positive experience, and the decaying of his family structure, something that is very obviously negative. The swan Jason sees displays both the bad and the good events he's gone through in the past months.

Swans are a symbol of femininity, something the boys at Jason's school reject immensely. And what is the word Jason consistently resorts to when he wants to express his distaste with something? Gay. He uses the word "gay" to mean anything even remotely negative or status-hindering.

"Black Swan Green hasn't got any swans." There are no "pansies" in this town. Weakness is mocked. Emotional vulnerability is mocked. Jason is mocked. And yet, what does he see when he looks out his window? A swan. Thriving in the most bizarre conditions.

Despite everything Jason has gone through, despite his hellish school and monotonous home life, the swan still thrives. 

Comments

  1. MitchellMay 5, 2021 at 12:57 PM

    Jason does repeat that "no swans in Black Swan Green" joke a few different times, and each time (as I recall) he somewhat apologetically says something like "it's kind of the town joke." In part, this gives due credit to whatever comedian originally came up with this line, but it's also classic Jason--disavowing the general observation as not really "his," but deferring to what "everyone says" about the town. As you note, it maybe turns out that he is wrong about this assumption, just as he's wrong about a lot of his assumptions over the course of the book.

    "Green" also has metaphorical implications: if Jason is in some ways a "black swan" over the course of the novel, he is also "green" (or inexperienced, novice, new) in many ways. He becomes less "green" over the course of the novel, a progression that maybe culminates in his spotting of an actual swan in Black Swan Green. He is now "experienced."

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  2. Joanna's BlogMay 19, 2021 at 9:59 AM

    This is a fascinating take! I agree that Jason is able to accept his "femininity" (really just a rejection of the hyper-masculinity he has been previously influenced by) more by the end of the novel, as he's been positively impacted by women in his life (also his sister). Swans are also symbolic of self love and self acceptance, which Jason definitely exhibits by embracing his poetry.

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