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In Black Swan Green, Jason develops a speech impediment, a stammer (which he clearly differentiates from stuttering). He gives this stammer a name, Hangman, which shows how Hangman causes his social “death.” This reminds me of the game Hangman, which takes letters from words if guessed incorrectly and contributes to the “death” of the person. In this sense, Hangman limits the letters Jason can pronounce out loud. There is a whole system as to how Hangman functions. He summarizes the way he works through these 4 so called commandments.
Hangman’s 4 commandments
1st commandment:
Thou shalt hide from speech therapists.
2nd commandment:
Thou shalt strangle Taylor when he is nervous about stammering.
3rd commandment:
Thou shalt ambush Taylor when he is not nervous about stammering
4th commandment:
Once Taylor is ‘stutterboy’ in the eyes of the world he is yours.
When Jason speaks to his therapist, Hangman seems to disappear. This is perhaps due to the fact that Mrs. de Roo is someone he can confide in. This can also be seen with Mrs. Gretton, in who he confides about his worries. She is also mentally ill, which may contribute to the reason Jason feels more comfortable and can tell her his feelings.
The second and third commandments show that Hangman can come in anytime, whether it is expected or unexpected. One of the times Jason’s stammer was when he read a text out loud in class. While he could usually replace the words Hangman took over, he found other smart ways to avoid stammering. This shows how badly he wanted to seem “normal.”
The third commandment shows his greatest fear, being labeled as a “stutterboy.” Eventually, this came true when his bullies made fun of his speech impediment. It seems that Hangman has completely taken over Jason’s social life.
Usually, he avoids hangman by using substitute words. This may usually work out; however, hangman still has a large effect on Jason socially and internally. His confidence goes down due to his stammer and makes him worry the way other people see him. However, he doesn’t let Hangman take over his life and stops being a “human punching bag,” where he is picked on partly because of his stammer.
Hi Elda, this was a great blog post! I really liked your point on how Hangman has ultimately had a huge influence on his life, despite his "bandaid fix" he has applied to it. I agree with your point that his confidence is kind of related to how Hangman effects him. Adding onto that, I think when he ultimately figures out how to overcome his real life bullies like Wilcox and Brose, Hangman has less of a hold on him because he has a lesser fear of being socially stigmatized. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteHello Elda,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this post about one of the most important pseudo-characters in all of Black Swan Green. The main idea I took away from Hangman's four commandments was the idea that he always struck the hardest when Jason least wanted him to (i.e., when Jason was at his most vulnerable) such as when he was forced to read in front of his classmates or when he talked to people he deemed important. It seems, though, that over the course of the book Hangman begins to loosen his grip over Jason. The moment that comes to mind most clearly is one of Jason's encounters with Ross Wilcox, where he manages to go the whole way without stammering, later claiming that the stress of the situation helped him to focus better and ignore Hangman's influence. As the chapters progress, we really see Jason begin to understand exactly what makes Hangman tick and figure out how to best work around him. In the last chapter especially, he realizes that Hangman's influence depends on how much unnecessary worry he places on a given situation and vows to begin correcting that, marking a huge milestone in his coming of age.
Hi Elda! I really liked your connection between the death of the stick figure in Hangman and the social death of Jason when his stammer made an appearance. Its honestly something I never thought of. I also liked how you connected each Hangman Commandment with real examples from the book, showing how his stammer got in the way of many things. However you still ended with Jason's coming-of-age moment where he realized that he will not continue to be a "human punching bag." Overall, great blog.
ReplyDeleteRemember that Jason's first "encounter" with the entity inside his own mind that he personifies as "Hangman" takes place (appropriately) in a classroom *when the class is playing Hangman*. He knows the answer, but can't produce the word "Nightingale," the first time this has ever happened to him. The familiar classroom game (which is kind of morbid, when you think about it!) is a great metaphor for this dilemma wherein letters of the alphabet "disappear" from words when Jason tries to speak them, but his creation of the Hangman character (complete with detailed physical description, along with his "rules") takes the metaphor in new directions: in the actual game Hangman, there is no antagonist. It's a competition between players to figure out the hidden word, but players aren't trying to actively check each other's ability to answer. There's no actual "hangman" in Hangman, in other words; the game test's the player's literacy and vocabulary. But literacy and vocabulary are not Jason's problem--he has an astonishingly vast vocabulary for a kid his age, in fact. He's probably awesome at Hangman, if he were able to *write* the answer rather than speak it aloud. It's just one more way in which this antagonistic "Hangman" character makes him seem less intelligent than he actually is, since he doesn't try to answer even when he knows he's right.
ReplyDeleteHi Elda! I loved your approach to this blog, it was very interesting that you had the 4 commandments! When Jason's stammer disappeared while talking to the therapist, it reminded me of how after he became friends with Dean, it also helped because he was someone he could confide in. And at the end, the reason why Hangman barely came up at all was because Jason could confide in himself rather than relying on other people, or his social status given from his classmates. Great ideas!
ReplyDeleteHi Elda! This blog is a bit strange in the best way possible! I love the title and the 4 commandments along with your analysis. I'd also like to piggy back off of Helen's comment above because I also noticed how progressively throughout the novel we saw less of hangman and Jason was less at war with his stammer and himself. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Elda! You do a great job breaking down Hangman’s four commandments. I’ve never thought about Mrs. Gretton as a kind of therapist until you mentioned it. Adding on to your blog, I find it fascinating how Hangman’s commandments gradually lose their power as Jason grows and becomes more true to himself. Also, I love your blog title! Good blog post!
ReplyDeleteHi Elda!! I really enjoyed your blog post. This is a great topic today because I think that his stammer really affected his social status. I did find it interesting how when he was comfortable talking to someone, his stammer went away, but when he got nervous and was being bullied, Hangman was right there with him. You made some great points in your blog. Good Job!!
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