Who are the main characters? Who are the secondary characters?
Main Characters Charlie Bucktin A 13 year old boy, Charlie Bucktin is the protagonist and narrator of the story. He is intellectual rather than athletic, making him somewhat of an outsider in his town, Corrigan, where sporting talents are highly valued. As such, Charlie often reads books and is fascinated by literature and real authors such as Mark Twain. Often, reading books makes him wonder about the world around him and as such, result in moments of deep thoughts that he shares with us readers. He doesn’t consider himself a very brave person, but when Jasper Jones knocks on his window at the dead of night for the first time, his courage is tested as he is desperate to impress. Charlie is based off Craig Silvey's own life as a teenager. At the start of the story, it is revealed that he has a crush on Eliza Wishart. Jasper Jones A half cast Australian boy, Jasper Jones is the town’s outcast. Whenever something bad happens in Corrigan, such as the burning down of the post office, Jasper is usually blamed whether he did or did not do it. As such, Jasper holds a very bad reputation as a rebel, and parents usually tell their kids to not hang around with him. However, Jasper has learnt to accept that he is often blamed with crimes he did not commit, and thus lives a difficult life in the bushes which he considers his home. His mother died when he was young and his father is an abusive, violent drunk. Due to these troubles, Jasper often resorts to committing crimes such as stealing money or food, but only because he needs to as his family has no money. He claims to never have stolen anything that he did not need. Although only being 14, Charlie believes Jasper seems much older and much more mature for someone his age. Jasper also smokes and drinks, possibly to drown out his problems. Eliza Wishart Eliza Wishart is Laura’s younger sister, and also Charlie’s crush. Although Charlie does not know for a while, Eliza also likes him back. Like Charlie, Eliza also enjoys reading books. At the start of the book, Charlie suspects that Eliza does not know anything about her dead sister, but as their relationship develops and eventually grows, Eliza reveals that she knows the truth behind her sister’s death; the mystery that him and Jasper had been yearning to find this whole time. This makes her an extremely important character in relation to the plot. Laura Wishart Despite not being alive for the whole story, Laura serves as a primary character as her death was responsible for Jasper meeting Charlie, and thus providing the entire plot. She is the older sister of Eliza Wishart, and also Jasper’s past lover. Upon her death, Jasper is emotionally struck and vows to find out who killed his girl. Her death sparks a mission for the town to find her on the presumption that she is only missing, as she is the daughter of the town’s president. However, because Laura’s body was found in Jasper’s home, in an attempt to escape trouble due to his mislead, misunderstood and rebellious reputation, Jasper must hide the body, but he is unwilling to without courage and help. Thus he arrives at Charlie’s house at the middle of the night for desperate help. Laura’s body is tied to heavy rocks and thrown into the river, but this leaves both Jasper and Charlie in particular emotionally traumatised, as Charlie cannot stop thinking that he had just drowned someone. When the town tries to find her, Charlie’s struggle is made worse because he knows exactly where Laura is but cannot tell anyone due to the promise he made Jasper. ‘We have drowned her. We are monsters’ – page 30. |
Secondary characters Jeffrey Lu A Vietnamese boy, Jeffrey is Charlie Bucktin’s best and only real friend. He is one year younger than Charlie, but due to his intellect he skipped a grade and school and as such is in the same classes as Charlie. Apart from his ethnicity, his small size makes him an easy target for bullying by bigger and older kids. However he has gotten used this and ignores it, regardless of how bad it becomes. Despite this, Jeffrey is a humorous character who often makes countless jokes. He shares a unique friendship with Charlie; one that allows them to insult each other and just laugh without ever taking anything too seriously; a friendship that only they could really understand. Jeffrey is also exceptionally skilled at cricket and fantasises in becoming the next Doug Walters. (Mad) Jack Lionel Jack Lionel is the accused murderer of Laura Wishart. From the start of the story, Jasper instantly suspects Jack Lionel to be the killer due the bad rumours suggesting that he is a crazy and violent old man. This is because of Jack’s tendency to call out people’s names from inside his house as they walk past his house. As a result, within the community he is known as ‘Mad Jack Lionel’, a name that arouses fear in everyone. His supposed crazy nature has gone so far that kids have made up a game; those who would be brave enough to steal from his peach tree would be respected for their immense courage and bathed in glory. However, the truth is that Jack Lionel is just an innocent old man, who is revealed to be Jasper Jones’ grandfather. |
Choose your favourite character and explain your choice
My favourite character in Jasper Jones is Jeffrey Lu, because his presence throughout the story always brightens up the mood. He does this through his quirky, yet funny personality; he swears a lot and makes a lot of jokes which deter us away from the main problem in the story, like a tension breaker. For example, after Charlie’s first stressful night with Jasper, the next day Jeffrey is already making jokes with Charlie to make him forget about the incident despite not knowing what Charlie had been through. However, most importantly, he does not care of what he does or what others think of him. Additionally, despite being both verbally and physically bullied almost every day, Jeffrey has a tendency to just ignore it as if it was nothing at all. The fact that he does not give in indicates that despite being an outsider in terms of ethnicity, he is still proud of being Vietnamese and will not let anyone bring him down; Jeffrey is very resilient. After his dad was attacked by four men, despite his tiny size Jeffrey still wanted to relentlessly chase after the attackers but was stopped by his mother. Jeffrey Lu breaks the stereotype; who knew such a small, inferior person could have such strong resilience, resistance and motives?
Explain how or why a particular event occurred
Jasper Jones met Charlie Bucktin because of Laura’s death. In the middle of a hot summer night, Jasper Jones came knocking on Charlie’s bedroom window, asking for help. Although Charlie barely even knew him, he eventually decided to follow Jasper despite him not telling why he needed his help. Upon walking for a while, the two ended up at Jasper’s home, his ‘Glade’. That is where for the first time; Charlie sees Laura Wishart’s body hanging from a tree. He is terrified, but Jasper tries to explain the situation. He explains to Charlie that, due to his bad reputation he would be immediately blamed for Laura’s death, and as such has turned to Charlie for help on what to do.
Write a chronology for one main character
(The story is told from Charlie Bucktin’s point of view)
Chronology of Jasper
-Jasper Jones arrives at Charlie’s house at midnight
-Asks him for help
-Charlie accepts and joins
-Leads Charlie to the bush where Laura Wishart died
-Tells Charlie he needs help in finding the killer, who he suspects is Mad Jack Lionel
-Explains how he needs to hide Laura’s body to escape danger
-Together, they throw her body in the river
-In the morning Jasper disappears
-A week later Jasper returns to Charlie’s house
-Explains to him about his injuries on his face, due to being accused by the Sarge (town president) of killing Laura and subsequently being beat by him
-Tells Charlie the truth about the Sarge and how no one knows him on the inside
-Talks to him about his future ambitions of leaving Town to pursue a career
-Explains how he will confront Mad Jack Lionel as he believes he has the right evidence
-Puts the blame on himself for Laura’s death
-Later, together they find a clue; the word ‘sorry’ carved into the tree that Laura died on
-As they depart from each other, he begs Charlie to cover up the fact they met up
-A few days later, Jasper returned to Charlie’s house
-Apologized to Charlie for getting him into trouble
-Left, and returned again on Christmas Eve excitedly
-Tells Charlie from outside his house that he has full proof that Mad Jack Lionel is the killer
-Runs away as he sees Charlie’s mum come into the room
-Jasper comes back to Charlie’s house later
-Suggests that tonight they confront Mad Jack Lionel, as no one will be home due to an ongoing event
-Provides Charlie a time and place for them to meet up again in the evening
-Jasper and Charlie confront Mad Jack Lionel at his house
-Finds out that Lionel was never the killer, and that he is also Jasper’s grandfather
-Through Lionel, Jasper finds out about how his mum died
-Eventually, Jasper finds out that Eliza knows the truth and he is given the letter
-Breaks down after finding the truth
-Returns to Jack Lionel’s house farewells Charlie and Eliza for the last time
-Leaves Corrigan
My favourite character in Jasper Jones is Jeffrey Lu, because his presence throughout the story always brightens up the mood. He does this through his quirky, yet funny personality; he swears a lot and makes a lot of jokes which deter us away from the main problem in the story, like a tension breaker. For example, after Charlie’s first stressful night with Jasper, the next day Jeffrey is already making jokes with Charlie to make him forget about the incident despite not knowing what Charlie had been through. However, most importantly, he does not care of what he does or what others think of him. Additionally, despite being both verbally and physically bullied almost every day, Jeffrey has a tendency to just ignore it as if it was nothing at all. The fact that he does not give in indicates that despite being an outsider in terms of ethnicity, he is still proud of being Vietnamese and will not let anyone bring him down; Jeffrey is very resilient. After his dad was attacked by four men, despite his tiny size Jeffrey still wanted to relentlessly chase after the attackers but was stopped by his mother. Jeffrey Lu breaks the stereotype; who knew such a small, inferior person could have such strong resilience, resistance and motives?
Explain how or why a particular event occurred
Jasper Jones met Charlie Bucktin because of Laura’s death. In the middle of a hot summer night, Jasper Jones came knocking on Charlie’s bedroom window, asking for help. Although Charlie barely even knew him, he eventually decided to follow Jasper despite him not telling why he needed his help. Upon walking for a while, the two ended up at Jasper’s home, his ‘Glade’. That is where for the first time; Charlie sees Laura Wishart’s body hanging from a tree. He is terrified, but Jasper tries to explain the situation. He explains to Charlie that, due to his bad reputation he would be immediately blamed for Laura’s death, and as such has turned to Charlie for help on what to do.
Write a chronology for one main character
(The story is told from Charlie Bucktin’s point of view)
Chronology of Jasper
-Jasper Jones arrives at Charlie’s house at midnight
-Asks him for help
-Charlie accepts and joins
-Leads Charlie to the bush where Laura Wishart died
-Tells Charlie he needs help in finding the killer, who he suspects is Mad Jack Lionel
-Explains how he needs to hide Laura’s body to escape danger
-Together, they throw her body in the river
-In the morning Jasper disappears
-A week later Jasper returns to Charlie’s house
-Explains to him about his injuries on his face, due to being accused by the Sarge (town president) of killing Laura and subsequently being beat by him
-Tells Charlie the truth about the Sarge and how no one knows him on the inside
-Talks to him about his future ambitions of leaving Town to pursue a career
-Explains how he will confront Mad Jack Lionel as he believes he has the right evidence
-Puts the blame on himself for Laura’s death
-Later, together they find a clue; the word ‘sorry’ carved into the tree that Laura died on
-As they depart from each other, he begs Charlie to cover up the fact they met up
-A few days later, Jasper returned to Charlie’s house
-Apologized to Charlie for getting him into trouble
-Left, and returned again on Christmas Eve excitedly
-Tells Charlie from outside his house that he has full proof that Mad Jack Lionel is the killer
-Runs away as he sees Charlie’s mum come into the room
-Jasper comes back to Charlie’s house later
-Suggests that tonight they confront Mad Jack Lionel, as no one will be home due to an ongoing event
-Provides Charlie a time and place for them to meet up again in the evening
-Jasper and Charlie confront Mad Jack Lionel at his house
-Finds out that Lionel was never the killer, and that he is also Jasper’s grandfather
-Through Lionel, Jasper finds out about how his mum died
-Eventually, Jasper finds out that Eliza knows the truth and he is given the letter
-Breaks down after finding the truth
-Returns to Jack Lionel’s house farewells Charlie and Eliza for the last time
-Leaves Corrigan
Make a time line of events in the novel
Pre-Story: It is late 1965. Laura Wishart commits suicide off a tree in Jasper’s home, his ‘Glade’, moments after escaping her house at close to midnight. Eliza sees this from behind a bush, but before she tells her sister to stop, it is too late. Eliza runs home right as Jasper Jones makes the discovery of Laura’s body.
1. It is late 1965, Corrigan, Australia. Charlie Bucktin wakes up to Jasper Jones, who tells him he needs help. Jasper takes him to the Glade, and after explaining the situation, together they throw Laura Wishart’s body into the river.
2. The next day Charlie wakes up extremely late. He goes to Jeffrey’s house, and soon they play cricket with each other. Jeffrey then plays a game of cricket as Charlie spectates, and they go home afterwards. After dinner, while Charlie is in bed, he thinks about a lot of things, especially Eliza Wishart.
3. The day after, Charlie sneaks out after waking up. After Jeffrey tells him that he is grounded, Charlie goes to the library and reads by himself. It is also there where he encounters Eliza, and concludes that she knows something about Laura’s death, though he does not say anything. When he arrives home, he is grounded for sneaking out. As punishment, his mother makes him dig a big hole in the backyard, and after he is done he is forced to fill it back in. At bedtime, he waits for Jasper but he does not come.
4. The next day, Charlie and Jeffrey play cricket again. A few hours later Jeffrey go to Charlie’s house and together they talk. At dinner, Charlie, in concern, asks his father a lot of questions about what they believed happened to Laura Wishart. To his surprise, it turns out that the town does not know much. At bedtime, Charlie still waits for Jasper but he does not come.
5. A week after Laura was killed, Jasper comes to Charlie’s window. They both go to the glade and discuss. After a while, they discover the word ‘sorry’ carved on the tree that Laura’s body had hung from, and begin investigating deeper into the situation. After arriving home, Charlie is grounded by his worried family for sneaking out the house again. He had made the excuse that he sneaked out to see Eliza, because he was fond of her.
6. Charlie spent the next few weeks at home doing chores as punishment. Charlie also spectates Jeffrey’ s big cricket game, as it was the start of the Countryweek Cricket Carnival. He meets Eliza there, and throughout the game they end up falling in love together. Days later, Jasper came to Charlie’s window with certainty that he believes he know who is the killer. Three days later, Charlie is woken up by loud voices coming across the street, and sees four men attacking Jeffrey’s dad after destroying his garden.
7. On the morning of New Year’s Eve, Jeffrey and Charlie play cricket again. In evening, Jasper arrives at Charlie’s window and explains to him the plan to confront Lionel. They do so, only to find out that Lionel was never the killer, and that he is also Jasper’s grandfather. After arriving home, Eliza came to Charlie’s window, telling him that she has something important to say; that she knows where Laura is. Together they head to the Glade, where Charlie spots his mum cheating with another man in a car. After sitting down, Eliza explains everything to Charlie. Jasper then comes along, startled by Eliza’s appearance. However, everything is explained to him too. In the morning, Jasper goes to Lionel’s house, departing from Charlie and Eliza forever. Charlie and Eliza are caught by the Sarge , but eventually make it back home.