Poetry vs Music in Black Swan Green

 While reading Black Swan Green, something that I found really interesting was the tension being created between parts of Jason’s life which he keeps a secret from the rest of the world, and part that he is comfortable with people knowing. An example of this is his interest in poetry and music. He cares about both, however each one is part of different identities of Jason. The identities that each hobby takes form in show how what things people are and are not able to express about themselves in Black Swan Green’s society.

Jason keeps his forays in poetry a complete secret. His poems, when published in the newsletter, are always under the name “Eliot Bolivar” as he is completely against being known as the true author of the poems. This speaks volumes about the environment he lives in. If something as simple as wearing a certain type of hat can label you as “gay”, Jason can only imagine what being known for loving the art of poetry would make his peers think of him. The only person who sees that the writing is Jason’s is Madame Crommelynck, and she takes it pretty seriously, trying to engage with his content. This is definitely the first time that someone sees Jason's private personality. And it proves that “Eliot Bolivar” is the only viable way for him to be able to truly express himself.

Jason’s relationship with music however is much different. This is mainly because he isn’t the one creating it. He, like others, enjoys the feelings that music brings. Jason seems to feel like enjoying something where your opinions or personalities aren’t a part of the product is much more acceptable than something where your thoughts will affect the product. This is a slow progress through the novel, from him overhearing records being played from his sister's room to finding his own taste of music by listening to “Mr. Blue Sky” multiple times in his room. I think it shows that he feels society finds it more acceptable when you form interests based on others' work, rather than your own self discovery and reflections

But maybe listening to music and writing poetry affects his identity in a similar way. They both seem to help him identify feelings that he doesn't have words for or feelings that connect to words that aren't acceptable to say in society. The only real difference is that one is something that only Jason does, while the other is something that many people do in the novel.