The titular 'jack bank' was a methodical bullying endured by Glen at his South African boarding school. Paddlings - called jacks - were administered by older students to younger to keep them in line; the jack bank was a system in which the boys could accumulate jacks in advance to (apparently) be let off the hook later, and curry favor with the older students in addition. The system is an illusion, of course, since the power dynamics of bullying can never not 'carry a balance,' can never not shakily justify increasing violence.

This system becomes a recurring motif as Glen navigates his way, as a gay man, within the homophobic power systems of South Africa. Racism and homophobia mingle within the apartheid-era South African society, and the same dynamic takes place outside the boarding school as within it: the victim blaming and internalization of power disparity allows corrupt systems to remain in place, with a self-perpetuating stronghold on their authority. But that authority is not completely beyond confrontation, and Glen's eventual work in combating homophobic legislation in the post-apartheid government becomes a reversal of the powerlessness of his boarding school experiences. ( )