Why does Mitchell choose to have a narrator who stammers? (HINT: the answer is NOT NOT NOT about whether or not Mitchell himself has/had a speech impediment!) Focus on questions of what themes this trait might help Mitchell to explore: what are the affordances of this detail as a narrative tool? Again, feel free to quote the novel!
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I think David Mitchell chose his narrator to be this way for a particular reason. By having this kind of narration where the main character is not only the protagonist but also the narrator, it allows us as readers to appraise the story from a unique perspective in that we get to experience the immediate moment as it happens while also getting a look inside the narrator’s head simultaneously; his inner thoughts and feelings. This is more effective rather than having a narration in which the narrator is older now and only reflects on what has already happened in the past whereas it’d be more intriguing to see the narrator’s thought process as the moment is taking place. To add on, considering that Mitchell chose his protagonist to narrate the story from when he was a kid and not when he’s older and more mature, this childish quality enabled Mitchell to explore themes such as coming of age and identity. As the story progresses, our narrator/protagonist is struggling to come to terms with everything, from this speech disorder he has, to this status he holds amongst his peers whom he wants to accept him, to the realities of life such as how a “happily ever after” is not really the case in some peoples lives (his parents separating). Hence, this form of narration where the narrator is still growing up and transitioning to comprehending things differently combined with being able to examine their inner thoughts and feelings allows for a more in depth analysis of the protagonist grappling between his true self , who is a poet and his other self which brings out the worst in him. This would have to do with the theme of identity.
I agree how “happily ever after” is not a universal truth, which further supports how there are things that are simply out of your control. Whether its his speech impediment or the family that he belongs to, there are certain aspects of life that he is doomed to.
I think although David Mitchell has a stammer himself in real life, the reason that Mitchell decided to make the narrator/protagonist have a stammer as well is that it allows us to further see the parallels between Jason’s personal struggle with Hangman alongside his social struggles to create and manage relationships. Jason’s stammer divides him from his peers and sets him apart as an outcast. Whether in his personal relationships with his father, friends, or Dawn, he feels different from everyone based on his condition. The ability of Jason to write poetry under an alternate name also free’s him from the bonds of his impediment which I believe we may see parallel similar freedom that he may eventually transcend later in the reading. At the end of the day, Jason’s impediment is something that is out of his control, he is born into his stammer just as he’s born into his family and it cannot be changed.
I agree that the speed impediment is used as a narrative tool to “other” the main character. I think that we’ve studied a lot of texts and films this semester that follow a protagonist who is consider “other” from society and the status quo. I like the connection between writing poetry under an alternate name and freeing himself of his impediment.
When you mentioned how poetry is freeing to Jason, I thought it was interesting because when you’re writing, you don’t need to speak out loud about every word you write down. Also, I believe that stammering is a common thing people have. Some may be more severe than others, but it’s something we’re used to hearing and doing. So it may have been an easy connection Mitchell made to tide the story together.
I like how you put it that the stammer is added by Mitchell as a way to manage the character’s relationship of that with hangman and society. It makes me think that if he didn’t have the stammer would he have higher social proof because of his poetry wits? Maybe so, more people would like him; but because he does have the stammer he’s only able to truly be appreciated on paper. Neglecting him the true admiration of what his poetry could be only if he was able to get the words out of his mouth.
The speech impediment serves to show how Jason is unsure in his identity and to help highlight that the general dichotomy between his intelligence with his age.
The stammer highlights how he is unsure of himself and how he needs to present himself as someone without a stammer by replacing upcoming words with synonyms. This also plays into notions of masculinity, as being vulnerable with the stammer can paralyze Jason and make him feel “less than.”
In the beginning of the book Jason hides the fact that he won a poetry prize, talks about books being “gay,” commenting that Dawn is a boy in an experiment gone wrong, and says he himself wishes he was a girl sometimes. In the opening chapters he also laments the difference in treatment he receives compared to his sister Julia, Julia also refers to him as “thing.”
When Jason gets an extension on his presentation, the teacher says “I can conclude I had you down wrongly,” also points out that at some point he needs to “face challenges as they arise.”
Jason’s stammer also shows how, while smart and knowledgeable, there are many things he is unaware of, which is shown in his narration. Not understanding the “two shakes” joke, thinking the word “orgasm” is an epithet, obliviousness to Kal-El/Clark Kent’s reasoning of why he would absorb red sun energy to lose his powers to be with Lois Lane, are all examples of Jason having a strong academic prowess while not understanding the world around him fully, which the stammer shows to strong effect. Jason’s narration also spells metronome “Metro Gnome,” further highlighting the divide.
As others have mentioned, I think Mitchell’s use of a narrator who stammers is to build a narrator who is a keen social observer. On page 27, Jason says that “The only way to outfox Hangman is to think one sentence ahead, and if you see a stammer-word coming up, alter your sentence so you won’t need to use it. Of course, you have to do this without the person you’re talking to catching on.” This need to always be one step ahead combines with the his feelings of being an outsider to shape Jason into a keen social observer.
A secondary purpose the stammer (and it’s coping mechanism) serves is to make the book feel more authentic to the reader. Since we already know that Jason has a running commentary in his head to monitor his speech, it becomes easy to believe that the narration is an unfiltered running commentary.
The character Jason may allude to the purpose of his stammer as a narrative tool when he creates an analogy between diarrhea and constipation to stuttering and stammering (Mitchell, 25-26). The nature of a stammer as opposed to a stutter is that a stammer constipates the generation of words. Without an ability to fully connect with his outside world, Jason is able to pull the reader directly into his internal monologue as the narrator. The effect this device has thematically on the story is that it allows the reader to consider the difference between deception versus truth, and perhaps inner versus outer strength within the broader context of the coming of age theme.
“S’pose it isn’t Hangman who causes it? S’pose it’s the other person? The other person’s expectations. … By honestly not caring how long the other person’ll have to wait for me … If I can reach this state of not caring, Hangman’ll remove his finger from my lips.”
Pg 289
I think the primary reason Mitchell chooses to a narrator who stammers is to draw a parallel between the pressure that causes stammering and the social pressure to abide by expected social roles. Just like worrying about people waiting on a response actually stops the word from coming out, worrying about adhering to social rules, like ‘don’t grass’ and fitting in social hierarchies stops our true personality/self from coming out.