Mad Jack Lionel

Personality and appearance

Mad Jack Lionel

'Pair of grubby work pants with a faded blue singlet with small holes in the sides where moths have feasted' p.302

This show his isolation from society and that he doesnt go out much due to the lack of clothing- fading clothes. The fact that moths have feasted on them also tells us that a lot of time has passed since he bought new clothes and 'went out'.

'Hunkered, haggard and bent'

Silvey's use of the rule of three emphasises his hunched posture and tells the reader that he is fairly old.

PERSONALITY/APPEARANCE

Grand-Father of

Jasper Jones

Relationship with his Son; a Drunk

'He look so slight and frail and slow'

Silvey's use of cumulative listing establishes the measured and precise way in which Lionel does things, highlighting his immobility and just how old he is.

We learn about most of Mad Jack Lionel's appearance from the way Charlie describes him from pages 301 - 310.

He is the Grand-father of Jasper Jones- Jasper doesn't find this out until Lionel tells him. Every day Lionel is on his porch, shouting Jasper's name out to him, p. 20, 21 because he wants to tell him that he is his grandfather. p.310, 317

He doesn't have much of a relationship with his son because of a fight over his son's wife years ago. He doesn't talk to his son anymore, who has become a drunk after losing his wife. p.312-316

Family Values

'Lionel began looking forward to seeing Rosie so much it be came the peak of his week.'

'He held his own service for Rosie Jones'

This shows his love for Rosie, and plays a part in demonstrating how generally, he holds high family values.

'Pronounced Limb'

Jasper's Mum

' He smiles a row of yellow teeth'

'His green eyes get glassy'

'Lionel reaches to usher Jasper in by the shoulder'

These three quotes show Jack Lionel's affection for Jasper Jones and demonstrates his endearing and welcoming nature.

The Town Psycho

He killed jasper's mum accidentally, in a car accident but he had a very good relationship with her. p.313-16

'He has a pronounced limb'

Silvey's use of the strong adverb 'pronounced' emphasizes the slight awkwardness with which Mad Jack Lionel walks.

Lionel is also seen as the town Psycho because he killed Jasper's mum. Though no one in Corrigan knows the real events so stories are made up.

'And the lies and suppositions were just heaped upon the stack. The story became truth... Jack Lionel's portrait was smudged with ink and smeared in shit' p.316-17

These personifications, alliterations and figurative language helps the reader see how Jack Lionel bacame 'Mad Jack Lionel'.

'Jack Lionel killed a young woman some years ago ... Nobody among us knows the real circumstances of the even, but fresh theories are offered regularly.' p.4

RELATIONSHIPS

Corrigan

Mad Jack Lionel is isolated from Corrigan and people try to avoid him and his house.

'The town turned it's back. The church no longer held an interest in his soul.' p.317

'No child has actually laid eyes on him' p.4

Boys steal peaches from his Garden

Perspective, Attitudes and Values

Boys from Corrigan steal peaches from Jack Lionels garden as an act of bravery because Lionel is the town psycho, and therefore, he is dangerous.

'The rarest and most reverend feat is to snatch a peach from the large tree that grows by the flank of the cottage like a zombie's hand bursting from a grave.' p.5

Laura Wishart

The alliteration and simile portray Corrigan's fear of Mad Jack Lionel.

The use of reverend and rarest shows how courageous and respected this feat is, its danger reinforced by the simile of something dangerous 'a zombie's hand bursting from a grave.'

'And the only people he sees from Corrigan are the few children who dare steal his peaches' p.317

Everyday Jack Lionel stands on the porch shouting for Jasper and one night he sees Laura Wishart walking past his house alone and that somebody is following her.

p.318-19

'When he recognized that young girl, the one he'd often seen accompanying Jasper, the one he now knew was Laura Wishart, he took notice, because she was walking past alone. And so he'd waited, assuming that Jasper wouldnt be far behind her. ... he saw that somebody was following behind.' p.319

This personal recount is foreshadowing the truth, making Mad Jack Lionel innocent and helping Jasper and Charlie find out how Laura's death happened.

Charlie and Jack Lionel

No real Relationship with Jasper

Lionel only knows Charlie as Jasper's friend.

'Oh, who's this? ... Is this your mate?... This is Charlie'

Their relationship is not very close

p.303, 385, 387

Until a certain point in the book, Jack has only a distant relationship with Jasper Jones, because Jasper is oblivious to their genetic relationship, p.20, 310

'He made no effort to wipe it [his portrait smeared with lies and superstitions of Rosie's death] clean.'

This shows his non-plussed attitude to town gossip, which relates to the fact that he doesn't care what the town thinks about him.

'Lionel expected Jasper Jones to have been poisoned with the lie, planted by his father and fertilized by the town'

which shows Lionel's negative perspective of the town, sure of the fact that they are guilty of making his grand-son believe lies through gossip.

Role within the Novel

We, the reader, don't see the growth of Mad Jack Lionel, or his change within the novel we only hear of it from what we tells Jasper and Charlie.

Mad Jack Lionel further helps the reader understand Laura's death and negates himself from being the murderer. He tells Jasper and Charlie how he saw Laura being followed when she walked to the hideout, which further helps their investigation.He also gives us more insight on Jasper's Family and Jasper Jones' character.

Growth and Change

From this we learn that he wasn't always so isolated, he used to socialize a fair bit, with his daughter in law. That all changed after she died. After that he withdrew from society, due to to the rumors and threats from his son.

Without much company he grow old and frail, in his solitude, he wasn't able to meet his grand-son. Which severed any connections he could have had. The union between him and Jasper Jones rekindled his family relationships.