Mirror Mirror on the Wall: Chapter 5 - On Dean the Heart of the Family

[hearseeno]

The Functions Served

There are clear benefits that both Dean and his family garner from his identification with John. It supports Dean's survival after the loss of his mother. But not only that, it also supports the survival of both individual members and the family's survival.

Comments

[bowtrunckle]

I agree with what you've stated above. *applauds* Dean's sense of self is so tied up in "duty: save people, kill things" and "save Sam" that it's no wonder he flounders when faced with the possibility of having either or both threatened.

I'd like to think that we'll see Dean begin to separate WHO he is with WHAT he does in the last gasp of the series. Not so much as to abandon the hunt and/or Sam but grow into himself such that he (and Sam) can CHOOSE to be together (in whatever way the series ends) instead of HAVING to be together out of this desperate dysfunctional co-dependence we've seen exploited so far. It's just my opinion, but in the end I like my characters stronger and wiser than when they started and in control of their destinies.

Lovely job, sweets. I can't wait to read what you have in store for Sam.

[hearseeno]

but grow into himself such that he (and Sam) can CHOOSE to be together (in whatever way the series ends) instead of HAVING to be together out of this desperate dysfunctional co-dependence we've seen exploited so far.

Oh, man. *sigh* Wouldn't that be a nice ride out into the sunset for them. Both of their souls intact and looking like they may just remain so. "We got work to do,"brotherly smirks and slam the lid of the trunk closed kind of end?

Thanks Billie BT. :)

[bowtrunckle]

Then we get a crane shot of the Impala driving off on a straight stretch of road with Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" blaring.

*fade to black*

\o/

[etoile444]

I agree bowtrunkle. We've seen a lot of changes in Sam, but Dean is still desparately clinging to old habits and old concepts of who he and is brother are. I have faith Dean will grow beyond the old and emerge stronger. (this is not to disparage who he is now, I'm just saying he needs to move beyond co-dependence).

[mtee]

I love your thoughts. They are so insightful. Your way of explaining behavior is hard to argue against.

You bring valid theories and mesh them wonderfully with the characters. I love your examples from various episodes. I love reading your views.

Thank you so much.

[hearseeno]

I love your examples from various episodes.

*snork* That is really nice to hear, cuz, man do I have to wrestle with LJ to get them in there. I dunno about anybody else, but I have to beat on the scrapbook links about two to three times before it'll quit giving me error messages and insert the image files into the post. *sigh* I wonder if it's any easier to use photobucket.

Thanks for your compliments, mtee, I hope I can live up to them. :)

[yourlibrarian]

Good to see this section of Dean -- it's nice to be able to see all these pieces pulled together in such an organized fashion. I also liked your comment about how under stress people cling even harder to the things that helped them survive before. Uncertainty is exactly what you don't want in stressful situations. Looking forward to the Sam section.

[hearseeno]

Thanks, Ms. Librarian. :)

I sure hope it was organized. I'm not sure why, but this section was harder to pull off than I thought it would be. I mean, it's not like Dean's character hasn't been thoroughly explored before, so much of this stuff isn't really new. I thought Sam's section would be harder, but it's actually coming more easily. *snork* Maybe because every other sentence begins with "Unlike Dean, Sam..."

[yourlibrarian]

Heh, well for me anyway there's no Dean without Sam or Sam without Dean. But I think that it makes more sense to start with Dean because his story starts earlier and it's also (I think) easier to piece together. From all we've seen Dean has been pretty consistent in his life.