Breaking Cycles with Julia (Huzzah)
At some point or another, I think many of us have heard of "healing generational trauma." Breaking problematic/abusive behaviors, refusing to make some of the mistakes of the previous generation. I think Julia is a fantastic example of this.
We see her diagnosing problems in her parents' marriage. She subtly calls out her dad on his pyrrhic victory during the renovation project, which is a nod to her deeper understanding of their communication faults. As Jason notes, Julia always seems to find the appropiate excuse to escape a family dinner right before the fight or tension. She understands the conflict is inevitable and has found ways to exist outside of it.
I think one of the best ways she builds a distinct future for herself is in her romantic relationship. Her own relationship exhibits none of the problems in the marriage she grew up in. Her own boyfriend is "cool" and kind to Jason. When he meets her family, he's confident, friendly, and nothing like the pissing contest we see between Jason's dad and his richer in-laws. Julia is protective of her family and calls people out multiple times during that dinner scene (her uncle and cousin). She clearly feels very strongly against family interactions like that, so she chose something different for herself.
Julia is also very academics/career oriented. Her own mother was stuck in a rut for decades because of the monotony of housewife life. It's the source of many arguments between Mr and Mrs. Taylor--struggles of a single income, dependence on her husband for decisions and purchases, feeling unfulfilled and underappreciated in her role as a homemaker. Here as well, Julia chooses a different path. She starts getting her education to eventually be a lawyer, and it's strongly implied she will continue these career aspirations even after her potential marriage. Whether because of Julia's specific family trauma or just a widespread generational shift of gender roles, Julia sidesteps another source of conflict in her parents' lives.
Julia does a great job of breaking the toxic cycles she grew up with.
Yeah good point. Relating to this, Julia seems to have a very strong sense of core beliefs (perhaps directly influenced by her determination to not repeat the mistakes of her previous generation). She knows what is the most important to her (ex. going to a university for the name value or going for the actual education). This allows her to have a clear direction of action and reaction to the situations around her (including her speech), which Jason looks upon and starts to replicate as he forms his own set of principles about life.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Julia was definitely one of my favorite characters that we've read about this semester, and her confidence and strength makes her a great role model for Jason to have. While she does make many efforts in dealing with conflicts in her family life in a smart way, I like how you brought up that she has found ways to exist outside of these conflicts and doesn't let them drag her down.
ReplyDeleteI very much agree.. Julia stands out in her environment as a competent, confident individual, having found ways to develop separately from her household. I like how you point to her relationships as a symbol of her independence, because I hadn't put those things together but it makes a lot of sense. Also, I think her presence in Jason's life is super influential, because she provides this role model outside of their parents.
ReplyDeleteFor most of the book, Jason was jealous of Julia and her way with words. To him it felt like she had everything that he didn't. But later in the book, he started to appreciate her a lot more and look up to her, specifically when she came to his defense at the dinner table and when she was there for him during their parents' divorce.
ReplyDeleteGood Post! I totally agree with you. Julia was a great character. I think Jason looked up to her a lot and treated her as a role model. I noticed she broke the cycle, when she had the Argument with her uncle about college and she tried to have the last word. Julia has a strong character which always stood out to me.
ReplyDeleteI really liked Julia but I never thought about how she was breaking the cycle continued by her parents. It totally makes sense that she sees the dynamics between her parents and avoids them in her own personal life, therefore having a healthier relationship with her boyfriend and also career aspirations that are different from her family. It shows how mature and confident she is. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree. Julia's brand of self-confidence in relation to her ambitions and moral beliefs is definitely something that Jason heavily envies. Like how she is both able to stand up against her father when she believes he crossed a line and how she stood up to uncle Brian when he criticized her college choices. A lot of Jason's arc revolves around gaining his own form of confidence, and Julia heavily inspires him. Julia even gets the last line of the book, comforting Jason during the divorce.
ReplyDeleteVery nice post! I definitely agree that Julia is one of the primary people surrounding Jason that act as a potential role model. Her confidence in herself and her choices are very revealing and is something that I feel Jason somewhat begins to pick up as the novel goes on. I think your right that Julia is against the patterns of her own environment, and that is why she stands out as a character. Great analyzation and post!
ReplyDeleteJulia's decision to exist outside of toxic social dynamics is definitely highly influential for Jason. I think a particularly powerful moment was her decision to go to the smaller college over the more prestigious one, because she felt it would be a better fit. Her uncle's unwillingness to support this decision shows how he is stuck in the toxic generational cycle of choosing rigor over interest and also demonstrates how Julia continues to exist outside of this cycle. Having a sibling who exists outside of these societal boundaries is essential for showing Jason that there is more to life than conformity.
ReplyDeleteI love the points you make! Julia knows what crappy family dynamics look like (uncle, cousin, dad, etc) and knows she wants none of that crap in her future family. Her future occupation as a lawyer also works fantastically for her character, as she sees through the BS and calls people out on it. Even though Jason didn't necessarily like Julia near the beginning of Black Swan Green, he still admired her way with words and her casual backtalking to adults. Great observations!
ReplyDeleteI really admired Julia as a character for many of the reasons that you elaborated - she sees her mom be stuck in a pretty toxic relationship, where her feelings are discounted and she has to compromise her passions to keep the family going. Julia therefore, is unwilling to compromise her values and what she wants out of life in order to please someone else - for example, she decides to go to the university where she knows she's going to thrive rather than somewhere more "prestigious" and talks back when she needs to. As Jason develops through the novel, he goes from sort of despising her to seeing her as someone to look up to and someone who had something substantial to say.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I love your point that Julia seems to be learning what NOT to do from her parents. She even seems to be more mature than the two of them sometimes. Another aspect of Julia's character that I think is important is that she tries to help Jason onto a better path as well. She looks out for him multiple times throughout the book- defending his poetry to their cousins, cheering him up about their parents fighting, warning him about propaganda, giving him advice before a school dance, and encouraging him to keep writing poetry. Though Jason at first describes her as an older sister who wants nothing to do with them, it's clear that Julia looks out for him, and has his best interest in mind.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really great point! This kind of reminds me of in "Fun Home" how Allison builds her future specifically to avoid her parents mistake of giving up their passions for a family when they didn't necessarily seem to want one. Julia is doing all the things she has seen her parents fail to do and regret. I also think you make a good point about Julia's boyfriends and how they are always chosen to be very nice, good people. I also think its notable how she broke up with her first boyfriend because they would be in different colleges and it would be unpractical for her. I think this shows a very mature take on relationships that her parents may be missing.
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