Jamie by Jack Bennett
"Jamie" by Jack Bennett is a coming-of-age adventure novel centered around Jamie Carson, a young boy living on a South African farm named De Goede Hoop. The story follows Jamie's development as a hunter and his experiences with the challenges of farm life, particularly during a severe drought that threatens his family's livelihood. At the age of ten, Jamie learns the skills of hunting from his father, Edward, but their lives are turned upside down when a buffalo intrudes onto their land, leading to a tragic confrontation that costs Edward his life.
As Jamie grapples with grief and the desire for revenge against the buffalo, he faces moral dilemmas and the harsh realities of survival. The narrative explores themes of maturity, loss, and the complexities of human-animal relationships amidst the backdrop of the African landscape. Jamie's journey is marked by both physical and emotional challenges, reflecting the broader struggles of life on a farm. Bennett's writing style, noted for its clarity and conciseness, resonates with the adventurous spirit of youth while providing a nuanced portrayal of growing up in a difficult environment. The novel invites readers to reflect on the intersection of nature, responsibility, and the inevitability of change.
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Subject Terms
Jamie by Jack Bennett
First published: 1963
Type of work: Adventure tale
Themes: Coming-of-age, family, jobs and work, nature, and race and ethnicity
Time of work: The twentieth century
Recommended Ages: 13-15
Locale: De Goede Hoop farm, Buffelsvlakte, South Africa
Principal Characters:
Jamie Carson , a slight, freckled boy, who comes of age on a South African farmEdward Carson , his quiet, reserved father, a well-respected farmerHannah Carson , his mother, a strong, big-boned womanKiewiet , an African boy Jamie’s age who is a friend and companionKoos Buchner , a well-intentioned Afrikaner neighborJo Van der Riet , a slender, spirited schoolmateHawkins , the game reserve warden, a tall, taciturn man
The Story
Jamie tells a coming-of-age story as an adventure tale. The novel chronicles Jamie Carson’s progressive skill and maturity as a hunter. His father, Edward, teaches him to use a gun when the boy is eight years old; Jamie shoots his first buck on the day following his tenth birthday.
The Carson family, of English settler stock, lives on a farm in South Africa, called De Goede Hoop, which means “The Good Hope.” Largely because of Edward Carson’s intelligent, conservationist methods, the farm has an enviable reputation. Besides hunting and going to school, Jamie works on the farm, herding livestock. Kiewiet, an African about his age, provides Jamie with companionship at work and on hunting treks.
The security and routine of Jamie’s life is disrupted by the consequences of a severe drought. One by one, the farm’s windmills fail. The Carsons are forced to buy water for the first time in the history of De Goede Hoop. To pay for the water, Edward sells the Carsons’ guns, which agitates Jamie, for whom they are symbols “of adventure, of the old days, campfires at dawn, big game hunts, all his dreams.”
Immediate danger enters De Goede Hoop when a buffalo from the neighboring game reserve finds its way into the farm in search of water. Edward, Jamie, and Kiewiet must chase it back to the reserve; their guns sold, their only weapons are rawhide whips. Unfortunately, they drive the buffalo into a cul-de-sac. Turning, it charges them, and Edward is killed. Jamie’s horse manages to veer from the animal’s onslaught, and the buffalo runs into the nearby windmill, shattering a horn. It backs off, dazed, and vanishes.
The night of his father’s funeral, Jamie determines to avenge his father’s death. The boy’s request to borrow a gun from the Carsons’ neighbor Koos Buchner is refused not only because killing a buffalo is illegal but also because of the danger involved.
Financial worries also preoccupy Jamie, who is now eleven. His mother, Hannah, sells the family car, and Jamie discovers that she has been discussing the sale of the farm with auctioneers.
He finally obtains a gun from an old African poacher, Frans. The boy tries to contain his disappointment—the homemade gun is quite worn; its sight, having been damaged at one time, is welded on badly. He also experiences doubt about his oath of revenge. He is convinced, however, that if he reneges on his plan, he will never be able to face people without feeling ashamed.
He tells his mother that a cow has wandered off, and he and Kiewiet must retrieve her. At Buchner’s workshop, he blunts the bullets Frans has given him in order to make them more effective. Buchner finds the hacked-off tips and discloses to Hannah Jamie’s scheme and his own intention to shoot the animal himself. Although weeping, Hannah dissuades him, realizing Jamie’s determination.
Jamie continues to battle reluctance. When he at last confronts the buffalo, he for-gets to adjust for the gun’s eccentricity and shoots wildly. He therefore merely wounds the animal, which retreats. The enormity of his action dawns on him: He has shot a protected animal and wounded a dangerous one. He now must kill it to stop its suffering and prevent it from harming some innocent person in its pain. Meanwhile, unable to sleep because of concern for Jamie, Buchner informs Hawkins, the game reserve warden, of the impending confrontation between boy and buffalo. Hawkins immediately sets off for De Goede Hoop.
Tracking the wounded buffalo, Jamie finds him and again misfires. The buffalo attacks, ramming him aside into the bush. While Jamie desperately wrenches the gun’s jammed cartridge, Kiewiet distracts the buffalo, which is rounding for a second charge. Jamie thus has time to ready the gun and shoot the animal carefully under the jaw, hitting its spine to kill it. Hawkins arrives, and a stretcher is improvised for Jamie, who broke his leg when he landed in the brush.
Later, in bed with the leg in a cast, Jamie thinks about the buffalo. He feels neither elation nor satisfaction. The novel ends with the prospect of striking water on the property with the service of a drill lent by a neighbor, as well as with the promise of rain, as a wind blows strongly from the sea.
Context
The protagonist of another novel by Jack Bennett, The Hawk Alone (1965), is also a hunter, this time at the end of his career. Critics have compared Bennett’s writing with that of Ernest Hemingway, both stylistically and thematically. They describe his heroes as conforming to the Hemingway type: the stoic, virtuous hunter who maintains his ideals in the face of a deteriorating society. Like Hemingway’s, his characters are haunted by a sense of loss. Bennett’s writing style, moreover, compares with Hemingway’s in its terseness and spartan clarity.
In Africa in Modern Literature (1967), Martin Tucker comments on the almost obsessive concern of white South African writers with the issue of race; he cites Bennett’s work as an alternative, in which the issue is “woven into the fabric” of the narrative. In the process of telling his story, Bennett informs readers about the harshness as well as the sublimity of life on a South African farm. Young readers can enjoy the novel’s suspense and sense of adventure while benefiting from its unsentimental look at growing up.