Jason and The Gypsy Mentality

    

    By the end of Black Swan Green, we see that Jason has transformed into a completely different person compared to how he was at the beginning of the book, when he was about a year younger. His transition into a braver and less self conscious teenager can be attributed to a variety of experiences he underwent, but the one that stood out the most to me was his interactions with the Gypsies. When Jason is among the gypsies, he sees their cool and calm mannerisms and realizes the absurdities of his own everyday challenges with bullying. As a result of this, Jason ends up adopting some of their mannerisms in order to defend himself against his bullies, which ultimately ends in Jason being freed from them and gaining more self confidence.


    When Jason first met the gypsies in the forest, he notes how the gypsy kids were “wilder and way harder” than the kids at his school, including Ross Wilcox. He then goes on to elaborate that things such as “rain, colds, scraps, bullies, handing in homework on time” didn’t worry them (237). At this point in the story, Jason is almost the complete opposite of the gypsy kids, as he does worry about things like bullies and handing homework in time. He had previously dealt with such worries by attempting to fit into the system and try to “rise up the ranks” so that he wouldn’t be bullied, but he ended up falling to the lowest level of the hierarchy and was constantly berated by kids like Ross Wilcox. Clearly this strategy had failed Jason, and this led him to look for a new way to prevent himself from being bullied. But the attitudes of the gypsy kids opened Jason’s eyes and showed him that the system wasn’t important and that life was much larger and deeper than middle school bullies and other everyday struggles that Jason deals with. While their lifestyle was clearly unrealistic for Jason to adopt, he nonetheless gained some insight on the world and realized that he should stop caring so much about these things that bother him and instead stand up for himself. By being in an environment so different from his normal setting, Jason was faced with a sudden shift in values and ideologies, which made him reflect much more deeply on the world. That being said, Jason was still thinking critically, for he wasn’t fully a supporter of the Gypsy ways, such as how he had critiques with the normal British ways. 


    The next time we see Jason is at the goose fair, where he also happens to meet the gypsies again and also bullies such as Gary Drake and Ant Little. While we see Jason standing up for himself, it is ultimately Alan Wall, one of the gypsy kids, who successfully wards off the bullies. He does so by exposing their “speed-wanking contests,” but his delivery of the accusation and his presence was what really scared the bullies away (245). Not only was Alan Wall physically larger than them, but he was also constantly on the offensive, which put the bullies on the defensive and left them vulnerable. The bullies still try to put up a tough image, but it’s ultimately crushed when Gary Drake starts to insult Alan for being a Gypsy, as Alan makes it seem like he is about to fight him, which scares Drake since Alan Wall is physically large. While Jason cannot change his appearance to make it appear more menacing like Alan Wall, he instead looks at the way Alan verbally deals with the bullies and takes elements of it in the future when defending himself. This self confidence and offensive mentality is what leads him to destroy Neal Brose’s calculator, as he attacks first in this case to show the bullies that he is no longer afraid. Jason also goes on to use his words in attacking the bullies, as for example he exposes the bullies to the teachers by speaking of the experience in an assertive way.

Comments

  1. JayApril 22, 2025 at 7:01 AM

    Hi Mahdi,

    Interesting analysis. Alan's role as a literal wall between Jason and the bullies is certainly an interesting dynamic, and I agree that Jason adapted, to an extent, the Gypsies' technique of absurdity. Interestingly, I think that the Gypsy encounter is an element that forced Jason's CoA by forcing him to be more open-minded, and, ultimately, to leave his small bubble and think critically for himself.

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  2. AnonymousApril 23, 2025 at 11:36 AM

    Hey Madhi, great reflection of how the Gypsies' mindset seemed to influence Jason to grow up and stay calm and collected even when confronted. The example with Alan using his size and aggressiveness to intimidate the bullies, and then Jason having to come up with his own solution was a great comparison. I can definitely see how the Gypsies might have been one of the crucial pieces that made Jason stand up and "grass" on Neal.

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  3. SahnanApril 23, 2025 at 11:39 AM

    This post was really unique from the others I've read. I liked your analysis of how visiting the gypsies really forced Jason to put his own issues into perspective. Seeing the gypsies helped Jason realize how insignificant some of the things he's facing are, and to not stress about them as much as he has been. It's interesting how Jason encounters a number of mentor figures throughout the book, who all serve different purposes in his journey. Great post, Mahdi!

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  4. MitchellApril 25, 2025 at 1:33 PM

    Jason's direct interactions with the people in the Gypsy encampment is an easily overlooked milestone in his character development, and I like your reading of the confluence of these influences when Jason acts "hard" at the Goose Fair in front of Alan Wall, who has quickly become an ally to Jason (and he's also really nice to Dean and his sister, so he's "hard" but also not a jerk, which seems like a new thing in Jason's experience). In the "Knife Grinder" chapter, this interaction at the encampment does a lot to distance Jason from the "mob," who are all out to run these people out of town, based entirely on racist misinformation. But as you note, Jason is aware from the start that these folks are "hard" in ways that Ross and his crew can only dream of, and therefore Alan was able to exist entirely outside the hierarchy that rules Jason's world at this point. So Jason can learn a little something from Alan, even if he can't actually BE as tough as him. The key is that Alan Wall does not "give a toss" about these kids or their dumb ranks, and he shows it with every move and look he makes. A lot of this novel has to do with Jason getting to a point of "not caring"--but NOT in the "don't give a toss" model of Pluto Noak. Instead, Alan and his gypsy community become models of tough, self-assured outsiders who are strong because they *don't seek the approval of the mainstream*. Jason can certainly profit from some of this energy, and I think we see some of him not giving a toss when he hatches his scheme with the calculator. ("I had to show Brose I'm not afraid of him")

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  5. PieterApril 27, 2025 at 4:05 PM

    Very interesting analysis indeed. I mentioned earlier on Alan's blog that I think a more laid back approach was very beneficial to Jason, which the gypsies played a very large part in helping instill in Jason. Definitely a very important aspect of the book worth highlighting. Thanks Mahdi!

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  6. leoApril 27, 2025 at 9:34 PM

    This post actually reveals something I hadn't considered. The reason why Jason became so much more confident after seeing the gypsies was because it showed him that the systemic oppression he faced in school wasn't just limited to school. It's likely that he only tried staying under the radar because he thought that once he got out of school, he would no longer face ostracization, but once he saw how the gypsies were treated, he may have subconsciously realized that he would actually have to stay hidden his whole life. Combined with the lessons from Madame Crommelynck, it may be possible that this was what brought out his confidence---because of necessity.

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