Goose Fair

A chapter that I thought was really thought provoking was the Goose Fair where Jason was deciding whether or not to keep Ross Wilcox’s wallet. It was a really good scene, especially the beginning and towards the end, to consider when we are thinking about coming of age and different aspects of Jason Taylor’s character as he’s put into such an intense scenario for someone that age. I ended the scene really liking Jason even more as a character.

At first, when I read that Jason was taking the wallet, I have to say that I was really disappointed with him. Jason has had to go through a lot of crap with Ross, I’m not denying that, but what I honestly love about him as a character is that he has such a good moral compass. Seeing that he was resorting to revenge like that made me disillusioned with him because I felt like he had lowered himself to Ross Wilcox’s level. “The prosecution (a) pointed out it wasn't my money and (b) considered the panic Ross Wilcox’d feel when he lost all this money. The defense produced (a) the dissected mouse head in my pencil case, (b) the drawings of me eating my dick on blackboards, and (c) the never ending Hey Maggot? How’s the s-s-s-sssssspeech therapy going, Maggot?” (Mitchell 242). He had understandable reasons for doing what he did, but I still don’t think that revenge is the best way to handle any situation. Jason wants to have control over Ross for the first time in his life, and he thinks that after all the crap that he’s been put through, he deserves at least that much. I’m conflicted here because  I want Jason to have control of the situation for once, but I was also really wanting Jason to give the wallet back to his bully to come out the better person. I was slightly worried because the author made it seem as though he had made up his mind to keep the money, regardless of Ross’s intense agitation at not having recovered it, and that didn’t seem very Jason-like to me. The book up to this point had built up how good he was as a person, and I didn’t want to see that aspect of him fall apart because of how some jerk was treating him.  At the same time, I part of me also feel bad for Ross. He kind of deserves the temporary agitation at the fair for what he’s made a lot of kids go through, but it’s in this chapter that we get to learn about his terrible family dynamic that causes him to lash out violently towards others. He’s a product of his environment, and to a certain degree (I’m not completely justifying his actions) it’s not his fault.

I would have to say that the resolution for this chapter was really satisfying for me in terms of seeing Jason’s character evolve for the better. This chapter was just a really great example of how Jason’s coming of age is helping to enforcing moral principles and further develop his sense of sympathy towards. Even though Wilcox is a major ass to him all the time, Jason ends up giving him the wallet back because he doesn’t want Ross to go thru anymore anguish with Mr. Wilcox. He also realizes that he feels bad for Ross, and that they are both just scared kids at time, Jason with his bullies and Ross with his dad. It kind of goes to show that even in tough situations, Jason still cares about others and tries to make the right decision with them mind. At the end of the day, he doesn’t let people or situations affect the way he handles situations. I think that it’s these moments that really define a person, the small acts that show you peoples true selves, and Jason really comes out of this experience a better person.