Similarities Between Sunday In The Park And Jasper Jones

Both Sunday in the Park and Jasper Jones have also utilised settings to establish similar notions surrounding hypermasculinity and its prominent position in society. Sunday in the Park sets us off with an ordinary family having an ordinary outing in the park on an ordinary Sunday afternoon. The mood starts off as peaceful and pleasant, but as the story progresses, the mood gradually develops into something more morbid and foreboding. The transition in the mood of the story symbolizes the change in the two main characters of the story. Morton, who started off as static and nonchalant about everything, morphed into somewhat of a coward and a disappointment to his wife. And his wife, who appeared quite distant and aloof at first, became more involved
with what was happening near the end. The deliberate choice of having a typical and mundane park setting indicates how normal it is for situations like this, the ones where strength defeats reason and rise above all else, to happen in real life. The setting is significant to this story as it is making a statement in saying that hypermasculinity is -and if not should be- a standard in society. Jasper Jones is set at night, which gives off an ominous vibe to this story. This setting also highlights the thrill of experiencing wrong doing and justifies it as something normal for teenage boys. The contrasting settings in which the two characters are in reflects their contrasting character traits. Charlie is in a domestic type of setting, whereas Jasper Jones is in a wild and frayed sort of setting. The fact that Jasper Jones symbolize the wild, which is vast and limitless, make him all the more powerful and dominant in comparison to Charlie, who is cooped up in his home. The small-country-town setting in which both of them are in, highlights the value of having good physiques and possessing physical strength and also the lack of value towards academic achievement. Charlie’s lack of physical abilities -as can be seen by his ‘inelegant’ fall from the window- makes him a minority, and somewhat an outsider in this society. And because of this, he is lower than Jasper Jones on the social hierarchy, which explains why he feels compelled to behave more like Jasper Jones. Once more, this links back to the previous point about the importance of conforming to societal standards and expectations