Previous
Similes
Key Examples in Jasper Jones
Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Mosquito Murder:
In Chapter 2, Charlie contemplates Laura's death; he saw her beaten and hanged body with his own eyes, but it makes no sense to him how someone could have done such a thing. His incredulity is immediately followed by a moment of situational irony that helps make sense of the contradiction:
What I really can’t begin to understand is how it happened. How somebody could do it. How anybody could kill a girl. How they could take her into the bush and beat her down and hang her from a bare limb in her nightdress. How they could watch her die. How they could leave her there. How they could be capable. I snatch at a mosquito in front of my face. Wipe it on my shorts. I flinch. They’re everywhere. I hate insects.
Related Themes:
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Bombs and Bodies:
In Chapter 4, Charlie learns that Jeffrey's extended family in Vietnam has been affected by a bombing. In bed that night, he notices situational irony in his own response to this new horror:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Strangely, of all the horrible things I’ve encountered and considered recently, dropping a bomb seems to be the least violent among them, even though it’s clearly the worst. But there’s no evil mug shot, no bloody glove. It’s hard to figure out who to blame. There’s something clean about all that distance. Maybe the further away you are, the less you have to care, the less you’re responsible. But that seems wrong to me. It should be in the news. It’s wrong that they died.
Related Themes:
Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Neighborly Kindness:
At the start of Chapter 7, Charlie mentions that some of the townspeople have brought flower cuttings to An Lu following the destruction of his garden the night he was attacked. Charlie ponders the situational irony that no one showed this sort of kindness to Mrs. Lu after she was assaulted at a town hall meeting:
Unlock with LitCharts A+After they heard what happened, a few folks from town delivered cuttings and grafts and flowers from their own gardens for An Lu to use...It seems like it’s their way of saying they’re sorry for what happened. But I wonder if they would have brought anything if his garden hadn’t been razed. Nobody brought anything for Mrs. Lu after she was scalded and scolded by Sue Findlay. Maybe because his garden was a beautiful thing everyone could share in, they felt like they lost something too.
Related Themes:
