Jess Clark- Black Sheep or Homewrecker

Jess Clark

At the beginning of A Thousand Acres I found myself sympathizing with Jess Clark and his "black sheep-ness." Even though he was drafted and chose to evade the draft, it seemed as though his father Harold and brother Loren outcasted him and intentionally excluded him, even after he returned home. He seemed so dark, misunderstood and different from everyone else in Zebulon County. But after I got deeper into the story, certain aspects of his character began to unravel and reveal themselves to me. A major turning point in my sympathy for him was at the end of chapter 17 on page 128. Jane Smiley writes:

"Jess said, "I feel better. The more I talk about it, the less important all of this seems. Something will come to pass. Thanks." He smiled warmly at me, then wrapped his hand around my arm, pulled me toward him, and kissed me. It was a strange sensation, a clumsy stumbling falling being caught, the broad, sunlit world narrowing to the dark focus of his cushiony lips on mine. It scared me to death, but still I discovered how much I had been waiting for it."

I don't want to even begin to analyze the character of Ginny here because I have far too much to say about her. But she is predictable and obvious, where Jess Clark is not as easy to read. This passage reveals his cunning qualities, and how he is able to manipulate Ginny into falling for him... when he knows very well that she is married! I realize that in order to have an affair it takes two people, and that Jess is not the one in a marriage, but if you look at this passage along with the following chapters, you can observe how manipulative he is.

In chapter 21 when Jess and Ginny get together, she explains how not frightened, pleasured and joyed she was that she had finally slept with him, even though she had just slept with her husband the night before. Although it still seems as though Ginny is the one to blame here, if you keep reading, you see how nonchalant Jess acts. He is still able to hang out with Ginny's whole family, including Ty. I think that this is a fundamental point in understanding his character. Most people would have a guilty conscience of some sort if they were around the husband of the woman they just slept with. But Jess does not. He goes about his daily business on the farm and around the house as if nothing had happened. 

I think Smiley wants Jess to come off as the character not to blame for all the behind-the-back scenes that are going on between he and Ginny. I think she wants the reader to blame Ginny for the affair (which I agree with to some extent). But, like I stated before, it takes two parties to commit adultery. And it seems as though Smiley is still trying to make the reader sympathize with Jess. After Jess and Ginny's first kiss, there is a part in the book where the family is playing Monopoly and Rose gets overwhelmingly upset and flips the game board over. Jess is portrayed as the calm and collected one who recollects all the pieces and seems completely cool about the whole situation. 

I think that as the book progresses we are going to start to see a breakdown of Jess's character. Maybe he will start to feel guilty, or develop stronger feelings toward Ginny. Or maybe he will have a change of heart and realize that what he is doing is wrong. But until then, his name sits on my naughty list.