Jasper Jones Characters

Charlie (binary/octet-stream)

Is a bookworm, intelligent, follower, scared of things-fears, well brought-up, nice boy, This summer, he is growing up, maturing, and learning about the world He talks about: His fears-insects, bugs, being  judged by his community and others (shows he’s a nice boy) His parents World events-serial killers and their intentions & existence, dropping bombs, cruelty to children His capability to deal with the world

Charlie Bucktin

Caption: : Charlie Buckin in "Jasper Jones" the movie.

Charlie Bucktin (litnotes)

The protagonist of the novel. Charlie is thirteen, almost fourteen years old, and lives in the small town of Corrigan, Australia. For much of the book, he struggles with various fears and insecurities: fear of insects, of bullies, of failure, etc. Charlie is an avid reader of American authors (including Norman Mailer, Jack Kerouac, and Truman Capote) and a budding writer who dreams of living in New York as an adult. Over the course of the novel, Charlie matures considerably. He learns to master his anger, behaving diplomatically around his parents and his friends. He also realizes that he will never be entirely free of his fears, but that he can train himself to face them. Charlie struggles to understand other people’s motives for committing crimes, though as the novel concludes, we are left to guess what conclusions on this subject Charlie has reached.

Mother And Father (binary/octet-stream)

Caption: : Ruth and Wesley in "Jasper Jones" the movie.

Charlie's Mother and Father

Ruth:  Quite wealthy, spoiled by her parents and mollycoddled whenever she goes back to visit family, makes her crave her previous home and doesn’t want to live in Corrigan, takes her anger out on her family, Charlie understands her but has a different kind of respect Wesley Charlie is proud of him because of his writing and respects him for standing up to others (refer to An Lu’s garden incident), is passive in order to try and make his marriage work and for the sake of his child-has sacrificed his happiness so that Charlie has a father

Jasper (binary/octet-stream)

Caption: : Jasper Jones in "Jasper Jones" the movie

Jasper Jones

Mixed Aboriginal and white, Jasper is an outcast. He is fourteen, but Charlie states that Jasper looks much older. He is the town's scapegoat, the first person to be blamed for any kind of trouble. Hence he has a bad reputation, and is blamed for crimes he does not commit. Jasper's alcoholic father is physically abusive, prompting Jasper to steal for food, as there is no money left in the house. Jasper's mother died when he was young, and Jasper tells Charlie he doesn't remember anything about her. Jasper has lost his mother, father (through alcoholism), his friend (through abuse and drowning), his reason for needing to stay in Corrigan, his reputation, and his childhood Described as a truant, a thug, a liar and a thief, living in a predominantly white middle-classed community-can he ever win?

Truant: Staff and students may have preconceived ideas about what he can do due to his ethnicity; is treated as a marginalised person Thug: People say that he is a thug but he is not one actually. The people in the town like to put that label on him so that they can use him as a scapegoat. Adds to the likelihood of him doing these things and the townspeople do not feel bad. Liar: Has to lie in order to not get caught for the death of Laura Wishart, does so in order to find out who the real culprit is, and to avenge her death. Thief: Steals liquor and cigarettes and money from his father and food and clothes from other people but, like he said himself, he doesn’t take anything that he doesn’t need. He has no legal way to get any food and otherwise he may starve.

Jasper Jones is described as...

Jasper Jones is actually...

Tough- when he needs to be; he has to be strong in order to deal with the prejudice of the community, and to work towards living the life he wants Brave- he is courageous because he needs to be. To wake up everyday and carry on with his life, that alone takes courage. Carries on despite how marginalised by society. Leader- he takes charge when everything is falling to pieces. He search for justice. Loving, caring, sympathetic- despite what the world believes. He is gentle and loves Laura. Hunted and haunted- he lives his life constantly on the edge, and wary of everyone because of how he has been treated his whole life Damaged- he has lost so much in his life, mother, father, safe home, and doesn't have much. A child who has been forced to grow up at an unnatural pace. Intelligent