I believe that Cormier was trying to warn the youth about what happens when you start using violent protest as a form of dissent: you lose. During the decade before the writing of this book there is a very evident trend in protests. Non-violent protests achieved their goals and violent protests did not.
Some of the historial events that Cormier may have been drawing upon were the difference between the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War Protests.
On the whole Civil Rights Protests were largely non-violent. They became effective when they found national media because people didn't like police beating non-violent political dissidents. The Civil Rights Movement was very successful in that respect as the Civil Rights Act was made into law in 1964.
The Vietnam Protests had the sigma of being violent. On a regular basis protesters broke windows and threw rocks at police. These actions hindered their effectiveness because national government doesn't like it when you challenge them with violence.
I believe that this is what Cormier was trying to say by writing the boxing match as the climax of the book. If a dissident group is ever tricked into using violence as a form of protest against the larger group they will not be successful in the same way that Jerry was beaten to a pulp in the boxing match.
I don't like that the ending of this book is so dark. Jerry defies the school, Jerry gets is bones broken. It's a rather authoritarian message that doesn't promote the productive dissidence we need to make the world a better place.
- Jason McCoy
Jason I think you had an interesting view of the book I thought of it while I was reading the book but I really like how you supported it with issues from that time period. When I was reading the book I was focusing on the juxtaposition between Jerry and Goober. Jerry did not want to be a "square" while Goober wanted be a "square" because he was most comfortable being a "square". I think Cormier hints at this theme a lot for example when he describes what is going on inside Janza's. Janza states that he can do the things he does because people don't want to cause problems they always want peace. I agree with your thoughts on the ending as well. I don't like how Jerry tells Goober to conform in the end (page 248). It send the message that the non-conformist would conform if he knew the consequences; this is another form of the authoritarian message you refereed to.
ReplyDelete--Amer
I also really liked how Jason tied the book's theme into current issues such as Civil Rights and Vietnam War. I didn't see that connection while reading, but now that you brought it up it makes sense.
ReplyDeleteI really didn't like the book that much either. It just made me angry and frustrated the entire time. The sense of justice that humans long for was not given in this book, and that left me feeling upset.
The point Amer brought up, about Jerry telling Goober to conform at the end made everything even worse. The fact that he gave in and thought that standing up for what he believed in was wrong was a horrible thing. I wish Cormier would have at least made Jerry stand strong on his decision through the end.
I didn't like the dark ending of the book either. I agree with Catherine and would have liked Jerry to stand by his decision until the end, even if he got his bones broken. Throughout this book I questioned Jerry's motives of not taking the easier route but also admired him being committed to what he thought was right.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, just because I personally didn't like the ending doesn't mean it depreciates from the literariness of the book. The ending was just a depiction of real life, that justice does NOT always prevail.
I agree with what everyone is saying about the ending of the novel. It's difficult to process such a dark ending. In the past, I have always assumed that a YA book would have to have a moral or lesson at the end. I would think this ending would be pretty hard for a young person to take. I can see the middle or high school version of myself feeling pretty angry about its conclusion and thinking 'Why the heck did they make me read this? The guy stands up for what he believes in and he gets beaten up. Nothing good comes out of it."
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jenny, too. Learning that doing the right thing and standing up for what you believe in does not always end well in the real world and sometimes evil wins out over good. That can be one of the hardest life lessons to learn.
-Katie