Music References and Historical Context
Mr. Mitchell - I’m not sure if you planned it like this, but it’s interesting that we have two novels in a row that take a very different approach to placing the novel “in an era”. My last post was about how Housekeeping omits the historical context of the story, so that the story becomes “timeless” to some degree, showing the human life in geological context to emphasize its transience. On the other hand, the historical context of Black Swan Green is expressed in a variety of ways and its deeply important to the actual story. The musical references are a really perfect way to place the book in historical context and to depict the emotions Jason is feeling. It shows that people are always a part of a greater culture, interacting with it in unique ways, so writing a book with such direct references is super cool. Music is a potent way of evoking an era, and a great way to elicit memories. And not only does Mitchell mention the music, but he describes how Jason feels about it. He also de...