We talked a little about this in class today, but it only
recently became clear to me how important the role of women, and femininity is
to Jason. Jason spends much of the book trying to hide “feminine” side, through
his poetry. He also spends a lot of time
worrying about things being “gay,” and he cares so much about what people
think. Jason cares what people think, and he never wants to be dominated. Therefore,
he only stutters to other guys, and only Dawn Madden. Because Dawn Madden is so
powerful, she exerts a similar kind of dominance that Jason associates with
masculinity. There are many minor female characters who we see throughout the
novel having a not so minor impact on Jason.
There
are many characters to talk about, but most importantly I think are Julia, Eva Crommelynk,
Mrs. de Roo. At one point Jason mentions how he never seems to stutter around certain
people, and it always seems to be the women around him. Except for Dawn Madden,
who as we have seen is already dominant over Jason, all the woman characters
who aren’t dominant are the people Jason is comfortable with. Jason isn’t worried
about stuttering with Mrs. de Roo because he knows she won’t make fun of him
for it, as she is his teacher and helper. Eva Crommelynk doesn’t make fun of
him about the stutter or his love of poetry, because she appreciates the beauty
of poetry, and actually likes that side of Jason. Jason spends so much time
trying to be cool with the “hairy barbarians,” that he forgets what he actually
appreciates. We see this when he finally spends time talking to a girl his age,
that isn’t dominant, who is Holly Deblin. When Jason is getting close with
Holly Deblin, he eventually says, “This song that’s on right now. Sort of
hippieish, but it’s beautiful.”
(275). And then he narrates, “Words like ‘beautiful’ you can’t use with boys
you can with girls.” (275). And to me this really signifies her importance to
his character, like It’s finally someone he feels comfortable with. During the
last chapter, Jason is thinking to himself about his stammer. He narrates, “I hadn’t
stammered once, the whole time I’d
been talking to Mrs. Gretton. S’pose it isn’t Hangman who causes it? S’pose it’s
the other person? The person’s
expectations.” (289) And I really think Jason is correct in this idea, like it isn’t
only a disability, it’s also part of his mind set. And from how he interacts
with femininity throughout the book, we see how his mindset has changed. His
stammering has seemingly improved, and these female characters and roles helped
him realize the possibilities.
Potentially
Jason will even further embrace a feminine side of him, and recognize that that
is who he is, and it will help him be truer to himself than ever before.
