Reading Jason’s chapter means good news and bad news. The
good news is that compared to Benjy’s extremely literal descriptions and
Quentin’s scattered memory flashbacks, Jason’s account is pretty easy to
understand and digest. His thoughts are clear and coherent, and it’s pretty
easy to hold on and figure out what’s going on. The bad news is what’s going
on. While easy to understand, Jason is arguably the most despicable character
yet in the story. He is a shallow, cruel character that has a tendency to be a
complete jerk whenever possible. Out of all of Jason’s interactions with other
characters, every single one involves Jason being derogatory or unnecessarily
black-hearted.
Jason specifically picks on black people, women, and old
people. Throughout the chapter, Jason is referring to blacks as niggers and commenting
on their incompetence. For example, he says how he is yet to encounter a black
person with an “airtight alibi” after accusing a black valet man of joyriding
his car. He also says Dilsey is incompetent because of her race. Jason also
digs on women throughout the chapter. The opening line of the chapter is, “Once
a bitch, always a bitch, what I say.” He refers to Caddy multiple times as a
whore over the course of his account. There is also reference to “nigger
wenches”, which even as a standalone comment give insight to Jason’s person.
Old people also take a beating from Jason. When conversing with an old man in a
non-confrontational manner, Jason closes the talk with “Don’t come complaining
to me…” (pg. 123). Quentin also gets in a fight with his mom in a cemetery,
showing minimal respect for the dead. These actions indicate the shallowness of
Jason’s character, and he has been constructed almost purely on unkindness and
spontaneous anger.
Despite Jason’s evil manner, his mother still tells him on
pg. 126 that, “You are my only hope.” This confuses me because Jason seems to
be the least likely person to put hope in. While he isn’t, handicapped,
pregnant, alcoholic, or dead, like other characters in the book, he still comes
off to the audience as evil to the core and the hope placed in Jason can only
be done on a superficial level. There is nothing else to base this on. Jason
might be my least favorite character at this point, surpassing Quentin.
I agree that Jason is in fact cruel and despicable, making him the worst character. His mother is just as crazy, so her hope in him may be because he is the only one left, as well as the only one who hasn't brutally shamed the family. I liked your description that "the hope placed in Jason can only be done on a superficial level."
ReplyDeleteThis was a good blog, and very vivid! Thank you for giving your audience a true snippet of what Jason was really like. He seemed to be a despicable, jealous person who can be compared to a baby. Nice work!
ReplyDelete