Traits of a Good Person

Black Swan Green’s Jason Taylor is the type of person I’d like to be friends with. He has a good moral compass. Moreover, he’s street smart, witty, and caring.

Back when he had the chance to raise his social status by joining the spooks, he still decided to give that security up and go back for Dean Moran thinking, “If I’d fallen through Mr. Blake’s greenhouse and not Moran, Moran wouldn’t be abandoning me to that psycho” (140). The benefits of having a tough group of boys to back you up is extremely enticing, but Jason still feels he should go back to his (socially low) friend Moran. This show of loyalty on Jason’s part is heart-warming. Wouldn’t you want a friend who’d give up their own social-safety just to make sure you’re okay?

Throughout the entire chapter of “Maggot,” he knows that the bullies just want a fun reaction from him. One example was when people put stickers with the word “maggot” all over his jacket, Jason Taylor knew what they wanted to see was him, in tears, running from the cafeteria (205). He knows himself that he cares too much about fitting in. Taylor isn’t a smarmy bastard like Neal Brose or Hugo, but he isn’t a coward either. When Ross Wilcox confronted him outside, Taylor shot back “your breath smells really bad, Ross” (215).

At the fair, when Ant Little and Darren Croome walk up and tease them about going to the fair with Dean Moran’s little sister, Jason doesn’t back down: “Yeah. We are. What the fuck is it to you?” (245). Unlike before (e.g. tying a string to the doorknob), he’s badass for the right reasons: standing up for himself and his friend Moran. He gained a lot of self-confidence throughout the book, but doesn’t lose his morals. He could’ve stolen the wallet, and he could’ve kept quiet about the whole bullying situation. However, Jason cares too much. While he might find it as a flaw, I think it’s one the many strengths that make him such a lovable character.

Siding with Lucille

Let’s just jump right in: Sylvie’s a nightmare come true. Sure, who doesn’t want an eccentric aunt in their lives to jumble up the boring bag of life once in a while. Sylvie as a guardian? -- hard pass.

Sylvie’s all kinds of weird. From our first encounter, we could tell something was not right. Wearing a green prom dress in the dead of winter to meet your nieces is a giant red flag saying you don’t know a thing about conventional standards (or general health awareness for that matter -- I’d be freezing!). She always tends to run through the motions. One beautiful showcase of this was the next-level parent sick-note on page 77. She knows the jist of a sick note but has no clue how to enact it. If Sylvie had cut that note after the first sentence, it would’ve been fine.

She also has no idea how housekeeping works. For example, only cleaning half the ceiling and stacking cans just because it seems right. Additionally, Sylvie’s frivolous personality blends the line between inside versus outside: She enjoys eating the pitch black dark and never bothers to cook -- I wonder if she even knows how to cook. At one point, Lucille mentions that it’s now “Sylvie’s house” and I agree. I’d scream if I opened the kitchen cabinet and found a squirrel hiding behind the cereal, but Sylvie seemed just fine living in tandem with wild animals. 

Learning from Sylvie about how to live your life normally would be an ultimate disaster unless you actually planned on becoming a transient. You can’t even trust Sylvie to teach you how to live a long life: she wanders around a bridge just because she was curious. So, while I had originally thought Lucille was rude and annoying, she’s the only one with a society-based mentality. Had I been in the same situation as Lucille, I would’ve done everything she did.