Throughout the story, Jason constantly mentions his grandfather's Omega Seamaster De Ville. To me, it seems like the watch becomes a barrier between his childhood and the adult world, and I think his interactions with the watch reveal a lot about his struggle to come of age and maturity.
Part of what I think is interesting is how the Omega is framed as a reward for being mature enough. Jason’s dad is "grave as grave" when he gives it to him, calling it a "sign of an excellent watch" (Mitchell 16) because of its thinness and elegance, unlike the "plastic tubs" other teenagers wear. Even though he’s proud of it, he’s terrified of it. He balances a coin on the hiding place just to make sure no one has touched it. He is mortified when he breaks it playing British Bulldogs, and spends a year keeping it secret and trying to find a replacement.
Jason’s decision to return Ross Wilcox’s wallet, despite knowing the money inside could buy back his Omega, is really telling of his character growth. Earlier in the book, Jason is obsessed with his own social standing and the fear of his father’s judgment, which makes the idea of a secret, perfect replacement watch incredibly tempting. He even justifies the theft initially by telling himself it's "the perfect revenge" for how Ross treated him (Mitchell 252). However, in a moment of maturity, he chooses to return the wallet, realizing that the suffering that Wilcox would go through wouldn’t be worth any watch. By choosing to return the wallet, he rejects the easy way out and begins to accept the reality of his broken watch.
After spending the whole year "putting himself through the mill," paralyzed by the secret of the smashed watch, he finally confesses, only to find that his dad doesn't even react to the news. Instead, he tells Jason to "be more careful with fragile things in the future" (Mitchell 277). In the end, Jason keeps the remains in his Oxo tin—not as a shameful secret, but as something that was part of his history, and a preservation of the watch’s story. By accepting that the watch is broken, Jason finally finds maturity and comes of age.
Hi Jason! I really like the concept of the Omega Seamaster being a metaphor for Jason's coming of age. I agree that the decision to return Ross's wallet, even though keeping it meant he could replace the watch, felt like a big point of character growth. I do wonder whether Jason's father's reaction would have been different in different circumstances. Jason revealed his mistake right after the divorce, when his dad came to pick up his stuff with his new partner. I wonder if he would've had a stronger reaction if Jason had told him at a different time. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Jason,
ReplyDeleteLoving this analysis. I also think it's interesting that Jason giving Ross back his wallet is what defines his coming of age: by doing this, he defines his own values system, which is antithetical to the system that Ross and others have upheld. Jason chooses to turn the other cheek, instead of kicking Ross while he's down to raise himself up, which is what Ross has done to him and what he has more broadly seen (consider his fear in the first chapter, Ross's won fight in April). By choosing to be a good person, and to put other's needs first, Jason picks non-toxic masculinity over the hierarchical structure he has been socialized around.
[I want very badly to insert an image macro of Optimus Prime saying "Be strong enough to be gentle here]
Sorry for being weird in the comments of your blog.
What an interesting idea that the watch itself is a marker for Jason's maturity! I like to think the fact that it's a watch/marker of time amplifies the metaphor even further (by recognizing the time that has passed and what has happened he is able to come to terms with the past). I wonder, do you think that's a stretch? Maybe.
ReplyDeleteHi Jason, I feel like Jason's grandfather's watch was a very symbolic component in the story that people notice but just doesn't get talked enough. You did a great job laying out what exactly the watch symbolized and I think your explanation makes a lot of sense. I wish you could've included a real picture of the watch, that would be cool. Overall, great blog!
ReplyDeletehttps://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcS6tmREFAkOS7nZFaL9Y7CZOKKp3Jq923olJxD09QSNw94SGpOUKnmtjOP_zXwlH64QHI48kIIO47rIpMYV9QYkEyZm6zkOLg
DeleteHi Jason, this was a very cool blog with a very nonchalant title. I really enjoyed your analysis of his watch, as I feel like to many readers, it would come across as a very trivial aspect of the story. I think it's interesting how you relate his character growth to his journey with the watch - when he finally decides to tell his father, the reader is able to tell that he has found the courage he has needed for a greater part of the book. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteHey Jason! I would like to start off by commending your frame of the Omega Seamaster De Ville as more than just an object and instead as a symbol of the pressure Jason feels to be mature before he is ready. Your point about him choosing to return the wallet really stood out to me, because it feels like the first time he actively chooses his values over fear and social pressure, which says a lot about his growth. I also think your idea about him keeping the remains as part of his history really meaningful as it shows he is no longer hiding from his mistakes but rather choosing to learn from them. Overall, fantastic blog post Jason!
ReplyDeleteHi Jason, I liked the way you described Jason's watch as more than just an object, but instead something that symbolizes his development. You described it as a "barrier between his childhood and the adult world" which shows how much pressure he put on it to define what maturity should look like. Jason giving back Wilcox's wallet when he easily could've kept it without anyone finding out shows how he started to understand maturity differently, which was by making choices that aligned with his beliefs. Great blog.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read the book, I didn't really think much of the watch, but this blog really shows how central it is to the plot. I think it is interesting how the watch symbolizes his coming of age as an object of that kind of value is normally something only an adult would wear, so it makes sense that it would symbolize Jason's growing maturity.
ReplyDeleteHi Jason, really interesting blog! I never thought of the Omega Seamaster as a medium for Jason's coming of age story. However, now that you've fleshed it out, it makes total sense that the watch is closely tied with his story. When it first broke Jason was petrified. Throughout the whole book he was searching for a way to replace it and when he finally got the chance he gave it to Ross instead, and he told his dad. While the idea of him recieving the watch was supposed to symbolize his coming of age, in reality the whole journey he went on with the watch is what shaped his coming of age. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Jason, The concept of the Ω⌚♆ as a barrier between Jason's child world and the adult world is really interesting. I think an additional piece of evidence towards this that you didn't mention was when Jason was at all the antique shops looking for another Ω⌚♆, and the shopkeeper's response to Jason's concern that his parents were going to kill him was that its just a watch and laughs at Jason's concerns.
ReplyDeleteGood blog Jason! I liked how you tied the broken Omega seamaster back to the idea that it showcased growth at the end. I think beyond the fact that he gave it back to Wilcox, it was also because he knew the relationship between him and his father. I kind of expected Ross to be thankful for Jason giving it back but there was no direct appreciation for it and Jason not expecting that is also growth on his end. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Jason! I agree that the real sign of maturity wasn’t simply receiving the Omega watch but being responsible and honest about what happened. Rather than covering up his mistake by using Ross Wilcox’s money to replace it, he chose to do the noble thing and return it. I also like how you noted that he kept the broken watch in his Oxo tin to preserve the story and lessons it came to represent. Also, I want to say that I love your blog title. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThe "grave as grave" scene where Michael passes on this family heirloom to his son has strong traditional coming-of-age implications (and it always reminds me of an analogous scene in _Pulp Fiction_ wherein Bruce Willis has a flashback where Christopher Walken as his father hands him a watch that had been transported back from the war [the less detail I include here, the better!]). So we're in classic/paradigmatic territory here, where the young man carries the heirloom that ties him to his grandfather and his grandfather's experience in war.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually kind of cute and endearing to me that Jason cares so much about letting his father down for busting the watch--when he's fantasizing about his newfound wealth thanks to Ross's carelessness with his wallet, he could just keep thinking in terms of buying cool toys and cool clothes, but he quickly realizes he should use this money to fix the situation with his father. As you note, in the end he learns that his father doesn't care all that much about the watch, and Jason has made a crisis out of basically nothing. But as a sign of how much he cares about letting his father down, to the point where he's ready to spend hundreds of dollars to conceal the accident that broke the watch, the months of self-torment over the watch maybe speak well of Jason and his character.