Are things looking up in this chapter? It sort of seems like it, to me at least. Jason starts fighting back, bullies are dealt with, Holly Deblin proves to be more than just an ally. Jason might not be a cool kid, he might not even be back to his middle-of-the-pack standing, but he’s not “a human punchbag” (276) anymore. His first kiss makes an interesting contrast to his experience with Dawn Madden back in “Bridle Path.”
The chapter ends, rather unsurprisingly, with the revelation that Jason’s parents are getting divorced-- though his father can’t quite manage to get the words out. It leaves us to wonder how he’s going to deal with it-- we’ve seen the hints of this since the first chapter, but Jason seems to be (intentionally or legitimately) oblivious.
Bringing things full circle, ‘january man’ answers a lot of the questions the others have raised. We finally get the whole story behind Jason’s father’s affair, which I must admit is not entirely what I expected it would be. Jason gets ready to move out of town. Black Swan Green gets a swan. We learn that the Sour Aunt isn’t dead, the House in the Woods isn’t really a house in the woods, and in the process of leaving, of becoming an outsider, everything suddenly seems a lot smaller and less important.
What really rounds the story out for me is Jason’s Oxo tin, and all the items within it. Not only do they remind us of the earlier chapters-- some questions are answered by the contents. I had to smile, particularly, at the Christmas card from Mme. Crommelynck-- she’s possibly my favorite character, and I was glad she didn’t forget him.
As far as endings go... well, as Julia says to close out the novel, “it’s not the end.” I still have some unanswered questions. I’m not clear on how sane Jason is, I’d like to know what happens to some of the other characters in the story, I still can’t work out how he got out of the House in the Woods. I’d like to know how Jason’s relationship with his cousins will be affected by his experiences throughout the last few chapters. But, of course, that’s all we get, from january man to january man.
The chapter ends, rather unsurprisingly, with the revelation that Jason’s parents are getting divorced-- though his father can’t quite manage to get the words out. It leaves us to wonder how he’s going to deal with it-- we’ve seen the hints of this since the first chapter, but Jason seems to be (intentionally or legitimately) oblivious.
Bringing things full circle, ‘january man’ answers a lot of the questions the others have raised. We finally get the whole story behind Jason’s father’s affair, which I must admit is not entirely what I expected it would be. Jason gets ready to move out of town. Black Swan Green gets a swan. We learn that the Sour Aunt isn’t dead, the House in the Woods isn’t really a house in the woods, and in the process of leaving, of becoming an outsider, everything suddenly seems a lot smaller and less important.
What really rounds the story out for me is Jason’s Oxo tin, and all the items within it. Not only do they remind us of the earlier chapters-- some questions are answered by the contents. I had to smile, particularly, at the Christmas card from Mme. Crommelynck-- she’s possibly my favorite character, and I was glad she didn’t forget him.
As far as endings go... well, as Julia says to close out the novel, “it’s not the end.” I still have some unanswered questions. I’m not clear on how sane Jason is, I’d like to know what happens to some of the other characters in the story, I still can’t work out how he got out of the House in the Woods. I’d like to know how Jason’s relationship with his cousins will be affected by his experiences throughout the last few chapters. But, of course, that’s all we get, from january man to january man.
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