Jasper Jones Essay Example

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.

Love is also learnt by Charlie Bucktin in the novel, but not just the love in the context of falling in love, but also love within his family and friends, false love and also different types of love, EG: harsh love. Charlie comes to learn that he has fallen in love with Eliza and wants to be with her. This is typical for a teenager, as many fall in love at a young age as they don’t know any better or what will happen later in life. Charlie also learns love in a way to get him better and set him for life.

When his mother makes him dig the hole and fill it back up, this is harsh love and will prepare Charlie for later life as it will teach him respect and manners. Charlie deep down knows this is what his mother is trying to teach him, but at the time he just wanted to believe that she was trying to punish, annoy and make him work. Charlie also discovers the love of peers. When Charlie is dragged into the drama of Laura by Jasper he didn’t know if to trust him. But when the truth came out and Jasper wasn’t a part of it, Charlie loved him for telling the truth and being a good friend.

Also when Jasper asks Charlie to leave Corrigan with him when they are older, Charlie loves Jasper for the respect and friendship he is giving him. Charlie also sees the act of false love.

This is seen by Charlie when he witnesses his mother cheating on his father in the backseat of a car. Charlie knew his parents relationship wasn’t going too well, but he didn’t expect this. He uses this to overcome his mothers power over him. But this example shows us how Charlie has learnt the difference between real love and false love, this will only help him later in life. Charlie also learns about facing fears in the book.

Facing his parents, the sneaking out with Jasper, Corrigan and of course the truth about Laura. Charlie was always a scared kid that wouldn’t dare do anything bad that would get him in trouble or go behind everyone’s back, especially doing something his parents would find out about and kill him for, EG: Laura’s death. But he learns that not always doing what your told and listening to what everyone says is going to be for the best. Jasper and Charlie did it all by themselves and discovered the truth without telling anyone which may have lead to them getting in trouble.

Charlie was scared of sneaking out at night because of the trouble he would get in, especially if his parents or the town knew it was with Jasper. But he faced that fear and it turned out good. He was also afraid of the judgement Corrigan would show him if he had been hanging out with Jasper and sneaking out as they are a very judgemental town and believe that if it is not what they want or think is right, then it is wrong, and the town would have hated Charlie for being with Jasper and

even hiding the truth if they found out about that.

Charlie also faced the fear of his parents and finally started standing up to them and back chatting on things he didn’t agree with. This showed bravery as he knew his parents would punish him but he learnt that facing your main fears will only help you later in life, so he should start facing them young. Facing your fears is probably the most important life lesson to learn as it really help you grow up and gain maturity. Charlie faces his main fears at a young age and later in his life, he will be able to take risks and have more confidence in decisions in life.

Charlie also comes to learn about role models. Jasper is probably the biggest role model that Charlie knows. Although things Jasper does is sought to be wrong, but he justifies these things by saying it was for the right reasons, EG: stealing his fathers money sound bad, but he did this because he needed food and his dad wasn’t around to get it for him. Also Jasper’s morals are good because he does things that he thinks will benefit himself and other which mean he is a good person.

Jasper is also a very loyal and trustworthy person that gives respect to people that treat him right, EG: Charlie. Charlie sees other people in Corrigan such as Peter Wishart that seem like good role models and genuinely good people. But Charlie comes to learn that Peter would beat Laura and was not a good role model. Jasper is a good kid and tries hard to be a good person but

just does things that seem bad but are for the better.

This life lesson is important to Charlie as he knows how to become a role model and it is good for younger people to look up to you when you are older. Another major life lesson that Charlie learns was racial prejudice. This was how Corrigan was a racist town that didn’t think the other races were welcome or as good as the rest of them. Charlie sees that Jeffery is a victim of racism mainly from the cricket team as they tease him about being Asian and say that he will never play with them because of this.

Watching this and experiencing this will really help Charlie mature quickly as it teaches him about not only racism, but also respect as it shows him what damage racism does to a person as it is happening to his best friend. Charlie also sees how racism affects other people and the danger and violence that can occur. Eg: When the neighbour sees Ms Lu the Vietnamese lady in the street and remembers her husband died in the Vietnam war and her son has been enrolled in going to the war, she gets angry as they are fighting against the Vietnamese and Ms Lu is allowed to live here.

So she abuses her and then spills hot water on her leaving Ms Lu with horrific burns. This incident shows Charlie the violence with racism and this will help him mature for better in life. In conclusion, Charlie Bucktin has gone through many major life lessons that will help him mature and be a better man later in life in

just a short period of time. Trust, love, facing fear, role models and racial prejudice are the experiences Charlie goes through and has to face by himself in order to grow up and understand life’s true lessons.