The Relatability of Being an Outsider
One of the most formative experiences for Jason in Black Swan Green seems to be the conflict between the citizens of the town and the Romani people. Stuck in a position where he has ties to both sides, he develops a more mature understanding of the situation than any adult around him seems to have. What stands out to me is the theme of “othering” or alienating others, which Jason seems to grasp very quickly–maybe because he himself is treated as an outsider for much of the novel. A constant fear of Jason’s in his own environment is that he will be considered an outcast for his stammer. That isolation is reminiscent of the town’s treatment of Romani people, and for that reason it seems to strike a chord in him. Because he is constantly judged, mistreated, and misunderstood for something he can’t control, he becomes more aware of how unfair it is to define a group by a single trait or a single thing they lack. In his stencil metaphor, Jason describes how groups define themselves no...