Jasper Jones Introduction

Language is everywhere; it fills our speech, books and films. Craig Silvey, the author of the Australian novel, Jasper Jones, has managed to use many language techniques to evoke powerful messages throughout the book. The novel follows the life of a young boy, Charlie Bucktin in a small town of Corrigan in Western Australia as he tries to hide a murderous secret; he's helped dispose of the dead body of the Mayor's missing daughter in order to help out the town rebel, Jasper Jones, whom he barely knows but is willing to help him, even though he won't be easy to trust from all the rumors he's heard about him. Two crucial messages have been developed in the novel, being the development of the young boy into adulthood at such a young age and the rejection of people of different backgrounds by the townspeople. Language techniques such as alliteration and personification have helped to expand the ideas used throughout the novel.Charlie learns that trust is the most important thing in Corrigan and also his life. Charlie hadn't ever trusted someone as much as he did Jasper Jones. The town believed Jasper to be a liar, thief, a bad influence and many other things, and they all knew especially not to trust him. When Laura went missing, Corrigan believed Jasper had something to do with it, and wouldn't believe him when he said he didn't do anything. But Charlie trusted Jasper and didn't stop trusting. He eventually finds out that Jasper was telling the truth and really didn't have anything to do with it. This taught Charlie one of the biggest lessons in life, the importance of trust. This is when Charlie learns that not everything people say about another person is true and don't always believe what you hear. Find out for yourself and have trust in your final judgment. This is when Charlie started to develop trust in himself and trust his own decisions. If Charlie had discovered what happened to Laura with Jasper before he started to have trust in himself, he would have told everyone, but that's when he started trusting the decision that it was better to keep it a secret. This new found lesson will benefit Charlie later in life as he will make better decisions and back himself, and trust other people which will lead to greater trust and respect between them.