"Great Britain's Catcher in the Rye": Black Swan Green

    There is a quote that says, "inspiration lies in the pages". Well for me it didn't. I actually found inspiration for this blog post on the back cover. There, I noticed a review by Kirkus Reviews calling David Mitchell's Black Swan Green, "Great Britain's Catcher in the Rye-". Conveniently having just read J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye earlier this year, I was inspired to trace the parallels between the two stories and the coming of age of their individual protagonists, Holden Caulfield and Jason Taylor. While the stories take place literally an ocean apart, these two young protagonists share coming of age stories that feels parallel and environments that remind of each other.

    Jason and Holden are both in a similar type of social environment, a hierarchical order of teenage school boys whose goals are to gain power among themselves. Both boys are in the lesser powered group of people, but for different reasons. Holden is a lot more judgemental, rebellious, and isolates himself from the action of his school as he is increasingly drawn to things outside of his school: "It was a terrible school, no matter how you looked at it. I liked to be somewhere at least where you can see a few girl around once in a while," (5). Holden hints at his yearning for something beyond the confines of his prep school and even more the people within it. Holden's internal conflict leads to his escaping school and leads him on an adventure into the outside world. Holden is constantly at odds with the idea of growing up rather than just accepting and trusting the process which is inevitable. As he experiences many things in the outside world, Holden is changed to become someone instead of something, accepting those around him and being more laid back in his approach to his environment.

    Similarly, Jason is also trying to escape something, but the focus seems to be more on helping himself become accepted by society, instead of rejecting it. The forces acting against Jason's coming of age are things within himself that he is forced to either accept and face the consequences of or overcome them. From the beginning of the story, we see him struggling to live with his stutter, which he calls "hangman". "Hangman" prevents him from doing a lot of basic things like reading out loud and leading even basic conversations, which leads him into a mindset of always wanting to be in control of things. On the day Jason is chosen to try out for Spooks, which he called the best day of his life, he listens to music and is able to control what is being played, "Mum's bought Maryland Chocolate Chip Cookies. They're new and totally lush. I grabbed five, went upstairs, changed, lay on my bed, ate the biscuits, put on 'Mr. Blue Sky' by ELO and played it five or six times, ... Swim across the lake in the woods, climb the quarry down Pig Lane, go night creeping across some back gardens. Who cares? I'd do it. If I was a Spook, every day'd be as epic as today. The record stopped. I sifted through the afternoon's sounds" (126,127). Jason's excitement and a sense of confidence really comes across here as so many things come together for him in one afternoon that he feels like he is on top of the world. Jason feels in charge and in control of his life and whatever is thrown his way. However, during the Spooks tryout, his friend Dean gets injured which leads him to pursue a direction away from Spooks. As he experiences more through the rest of the story, he realizes that constantly seeking control is not always the way to go. In the end, he becomes more laid back which allows him to stand up against his enemies and find himself.

    Both Jason and Holden start off as people who are deeply insecure about themselves and the processes which they are undergoing as human beings. The main lesson learned in both stories is to let life come at you as it does. You cannot get rid of your problems, but you can make yourself stronger to face them, and that comes with experience and acceptance.