At the beginning of A Thousand Acres, the event where all the characters meet up together for the first time is at Harold Clark's hog roast for Jess' homecoming. Since Smiley chose to begin the story here, I believe that makes Jess Clark in the middle of this intense plot. The first time we see a big revelation from Jess is when he's speaking to Ginny about his mother's death:
"I was so furious at her. I wrote her twice, you know, that first year. I told her I didn't believe in the war and I knew she didn't either. I just wanted a single letter, or a postcard from her saying she understood, or at least that she was thinking about me... She knew where I was in 1971, or she could have found out, if she called the address on those letters... Can you believe how they've fucked us over, Ginny? Living and dying! I was her child! What ideal did she sacrifice me to? Patriotism?... Don't you realize they've destroyed us at every turn? You bet she was sad, of course she was sad! But why didn't she give me a fucking chance?" (Smiley 54-5).
What this passage does is introduce the reader to the troubled side of Jess Clark. Up until this point in the book Jess comes off as this mysterious figure that's been missing from Zebulon County for thirteen years. With this revelation you find out why he was gone for so long and you empathize toward his character; he's lonely, hurt and upset because he was drafted at eighteen, his fiance died in a tragic car accident, his mother died while he was away, and also, he felt abandoned by her (his mother). While reading this I felt like he was an unstable character and that he should find comfort and help in Ginny. This caused me to question what I was feeling because Ginny is married for one and Jess doesn't want to stay on the farm; he wants to go back 'home' to Seattle.
So in questioning the empathy and sympathy I felt toward Jess allowed me to see this passage as revealing the anger in Jess Clark. After Jess finishes his tirade, Ginny admits she's shaken and afraid; her hands were even trembling. This could be Smiley foreshadowing what a volatile being Jess is and that bad things will come because of his resurrection, but possibly she's pointing out yet another man Ginny is afraid of. Now that wouldn't just involve her relationship with Jess it would involve all the relationships Ginny has with men in this novel. I think Smiley wanted to show Jess as the dynamic character he really is and that he could turn Ginny's world upside down.
