Black Swan Green

Throughout much of Black Swan Green, Jason torments himself over the secrets he feels like he has to keep from his family, and his family in turn keeps secrets from him. The novel begins with Jason answering a phone in his dad’s office, a place he is forbidden from entering, and hearing silence on the other end of the call, even as he suspects someone is listening. The 13-year-old Jason is too young to fully understand what’s going on between his mum and dad, but he can sense that something is wrong, and that his parents are keeping secrets from him. Later, he begins to keep his own secrets when he breaks his grandfather’s watch that his dad gave him and tries to hide it. He also has a secret alter ego as the poet Eliot Bolivar, secretly submitting poems to be published in the local paper and seeking out help to improve his writing without letting his friends or parents know. The novel makes it clear that keeping these secrets puts immense strain on everyone involved. Jason is consumed by fear of discovery and of getting in trouble, while his dad’s erratic and sometimes mean behavior is implied to stem from the affair he’s doing a poor job of hiding from Mum.

An American woman named Rosamund who works in an antique shop tries to convince Jason that the burden of keeping secrets is worse than the consequences of revealing them. Jason doesn’t believe her at the time, but he ultimately comes to learn that this is true. For instance, when he reveals to his father that he broke the watch, his father is simply grateful that nothing worse happened to Jason (the watch broke when Jason suffered a bad fall). Similarly, Jason learns that his “secret” identity of Eliot Bolivar wasn’t actually so secret from his sister, Julia, and he finds that he doesn’t even mind. Even his father’s secret affair with Cynthia, arguably ends up having positive effects when it’s revealed. The ensuing divorce allows Jason’s mum to move on to a new life, and it forces Jason’s dad to get away from his terrible boss, Craig Salt, and try to make a new life of his own. Ultimately, Black Swan Green shows how secrets can be destructive both to a person’s own mental health and to their family relationships, highlighting the importance of honesty and trust. By being honest with others, the novel suggests, people can feel more secure in themselves and build stronger, more supportive relationships with others.