As I read Black Swan Green, I keep getting reminded of scenes in Harry Potter (my bible). However, I have now come to the realization that Black Swan Green and Harry Potter are both a series of coming-of-age tropes that show up in countless novels throughout the history of literature. It just so happens that my introduction to the concept of coming-of-age was through the Harry Potter series, so that's what my brain jumps to when I read Black Swan Green. That being said, here are some connections I've made between the two novels, which are examples of much broader coming-of-age literary motifs.
Madame Crommelynck reminds me so much of Dumbledore. An older mentor who has a somewhat inexplicable investment in a significantly younger boy who is struggling to navigate an unforgiving world? Seems like a decent comparison. There's also a mysterious air around Madame Crommelynck and Dumbledore. Both of them keep their cards close to their chests, only revealing details about their past that are relevant to the character development of the protagonist. Because Madame Crommelynck and Dumbledore exude that "I-will-always-know-more-about-the-world-than-you" vibe, the reader is compelled to trust them, even with limited knowledge about their backgrounds. This trust is strengthened when readers see Harry and Jason absorbing profound advice from their respective mentors and using this advice to move forward in their coming-of-age journeys.
Ross Wilcox is very reminiscent of a Draco Malfoy character. The bully who makes the protagonist's life unjustifiably miserable? Check. Ross and Draco make a perpetual sport out of tormenting Jason and Harry, and their characters serve as an obstacle for Jason and Harry to learn and grow from. Ross and Draco also represent the "school version" of larger social issues going on in their worlds. We see Ross with his dad at the anti-Gypsy town meeting, and suddenly Ross represents racism and xenophobia that Jason is highly skeptical of. Similarly, every other word that comes out of Draco's mouth is "my father." As we all know, Lucius Malfoy is Death Eater, the literal embodiment of racism whose leader murdered Harry's parents. Lastly, Ross and Draco are both more complex characters than the reader realizes. Towards the end of the Harry Potter series, we see Draco challenge his father and struggle to align with the Death Eaters. In Black Swan Green, we eventually learn that Ross has a very unstable home life that undoubtedly influences his behavior at school. After the Harry and Jason learn more about their school "bullies," we watch them interact in forgiving and understanding ways. Harry rescues Draco from a fire that would've killed him, and Jason gives Ross his wallet back.
Madame Crommelynck reminds me so much of Dumbledore. An older mentor who has a somewhat inexplicable investment in a significantly younger boy who is struggling to navigate an unforgiving world? Seems like a decent comparison. There's also a mysterious air around Madame Crommelynck and Dumbledore. Both of them keep their cards close to their chests, only revealing details about their past that are relevant to the character development of the protagonist. Because Madame Crommelynck and Dumbledore exude that "I-will-always-know-more-about-the-world-than-you" vibe, the reader is compelled to trust them, even with limited knowledge about their backgrounds. This trust is strengthened when readers see Harry and Jason absorbing profound advice from their respective mentors and using this advice to move forward in their coming-of-age journeys.
Ross Wilcox is very reminiscent of a Draco Malfoy character. The bully who makes the protagonist's life unjustifiably miserable? Check. Ross and Draco make a perpetual sport out of tormenting Jason and Harry, and their characters serve as an obstacle for Jason and Harry to learn and grow from. Ross and Draco also represent the "school version" of larger social issues going on in their worlds. We see Ross with his dad at the anti-Gypsy town meeting, and suddenly Ross represents racism and xenophobia that Jason is highly skeptical of. Similarly, every other word that comes out of Draco's mouth is "my father." As we all know, Lucius Malfoy is Death Eater, the literal embodiment of racism whose leader murdered Harry's parents. Lastly, Ross and Draco are both more complex characters than the reader realizes. Towards the end of the Harry Potter series, we see Draco challenge his father and struggle to align with the Death Eaters. In Black Swan Green, we eventually learn that Ross has a very unstable home life that undoubtedly influences his behavior at school. After the Harry and Jason learn more about their school "bullies," we watch them interact in forgiving and understanding ways. Harry rescues Draco from a fire that would've killed him, and Jason gives Ross his wallet back.
There are definitely many parallels between the two books/series. Harry Potter was also my introduction to coming-of-age novels, and throughout this course there have been themes and characters that have reminded me of the Harry Potter series. My first and immediate association with Ross Wilcox was not Draco Malfoy, however, but Dudley Dursley. Dudley's merciless mocking of Harry Potter growing up and how the Dursleys (and the whole neighborhood, really) force their "muggleness" onto Harry so that he doesn't stand out as the wizard he is feels very reminiscent of how Ross and the rest of the Black Swan Green immediately outcast anybody different (the Romani, people with a stutter, etc). Harry also has the moment he saved Dudley from the Dementors in the fifth book, to parallel your example with Draco in the fire.
ReplyDeleteI love this comparison! I'd also like to add that Dean reminds me of Ron. He's looked down upon by the "cooler" kids, and those kids (Ross and Draco) make explicit comments about how Dean and Ron are not cool, the wrong type to be hanging out, etc. They both kind of keep their heads down and let it go, they're used to the treatment, but in the end, the protagonist always chooses them over the other haughty kids.
ReplyDeleteThis is a super cool comparison that totally works! I wonder if Jason's poetry is sort of like Harry's magic, a thing that makes them both special and is basically they're power. I want to see where Jason is going to go with his poetry, and whether it becomes a more open form of defense for him or if its just his way of coping with things.
ReplyDeleteWow, yeah, I totally see the dumbledore-crommelynck thing now. I've always thought harry potter was a bit too perfect (even thought I adore him) while Jason is more real as far as young boys go, but that can be excused seeing as JK was never a 13 year old boy. Draco and Ross both suffer from abuse at home, though in very different ways. Great post
ReplyDeleteNow that you mention it, the dumbledore/crommelynck comparison makes some much sense. In the sixth book, Dumbledore chooses to give Harry private lessons where he imparts all his wisdom on Harry so that he will be able to conquer Lord Voldemort. Madame Crommelynck does singles out Jason and chooses him to impart him wisdom about poetry/language so that Jason can become a poet and maybe also so he can conquer bullies at his school.
ReplyDeleteI really love these comparisons!!! I think you're absolutely right about Malfoy being like Ross Wilcox, and I found that in both the Harry Potter books (if I remember correctly) and in BSG, whenever Harry/Jason were being picked on by Malfoy/Ross, there often seemed to be others around, snickering along, and if not, the bully was making a point of "I'm still after you" to the victim.
ReplyDeleteAlso as soon as I saw the title I knew this was you Emma ;)
Haha call me out like that okay
DeleteI agree there are so many similarities with these two books. I think all coming of age novels are similar in a lot of these ways. There is always a wise mentor to guid the person coming of age. A bully to torment, an ally to help, and a potential love interest. I think some of these people are also people who we have in our own lives as we come of age.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't thinking about Harry Potter when I read Black Swan Green, but after reading this blog post I can definitely see the connections. Ross definitely feels like a Draco Malfoy-esque character. They both bully the protagonist, represent some other real life issue, and have their own issues that Jason and Harry don't realize whether it be Ross and his unstable home life or Draco and his tensions with the Death Eaters. I think a part of coming of age is realizing that people aren't one dimensional and that you're bully might be a more complex person than you at first thought.
ReplyDeleteI didn't notice these similarities at all as I was reading, but you're definitely right. I especially like the last one you pointed out, how both Jason and Harry are the both the bigger person, showing their bullies kindness despite all of the torment. I also think both Mitchell and Rowling demonstrate that mob mentality: everyone turns on Jason when Ross is making fun of him, and there are countless examples of the entire school (and even the entire wizarding world) turning on Harry just because the people in power have something against him. Also, I think it's cool that Rowling criticizes Daily Mail through her parody newspaper, The Daily Prophet, and Mitchell (though not very explicitly) criticizes Daily Mail in the rocks chapter.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that Rowling satirizes _The Daily Mail_ in Harry Potter, but I would definitely say that Mitchell's depiction (and pastiche) of overheated Daily Mail political rhetoric, in contrast to the more sober and critical assessments of Julia's _Guardian_. There's a whole page-long paragraph where Jason is presenting "his" strong opinions about how the war is going, and we can see him literally parroting lines from the _Daily Mail_ throughout, constantly reaffirming them as "dead right." By the end of the chapter, when the "thrill" of the war has worn off (a thrill the DM played a significant role in stoking, of course), Jason notes how the _Daily Mail_ has moved on to the latest celebrity scandal, while _The Guardian_ is raising all kinds of questions about the aftermath of the war, the human and environmental costs, and whether it was worth it.
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