Day 8 Meta: Mind, Heart, and Body as Applied to the Naval Characters
In stories, when characters come in threes, each members of the trio usually exemplifies a different aspect of human experience. One character will be the intelligent one, representing Mind. Another will be the Heart of the group, primarily guided by feeling and emotion. Still another will be grounded in the physical world, representing Body.
This mind/heart/body classification works in many different fandoms. For example, with the core Buffy Scoobies-Willow is mind, Xander is heart, and Buffy is body. It works with the Three Musketeers-Aramis is mind, Athos is heart, and Porthos is most definitely body. It works with the Harry Potter kids too. Hermione is mind, Harry is heart, and Ron is body.
With these other trios in mind, I asked myself if the same could be done for the Naval trio in Pirates. I believe it can.
Before I begin, I must warn you that I am about to stretch canon as far as it will go in order to prove my point, and I’m also about to rely heavily on fanon and other fandom examples.
Representing ‘Mind,’ we have Lieutenant Andrew Gillette. From what we see of him in the first movie, Gillette is rational, witty, and sharp-minded. He thinks of the rocks when James is about to dive in after Elizabeth, and his rational attitude seems to be specifically included so that it can be foiled by Jack’s madness and the existence of the supernatural. When confronted by the barrel of Jack’s pistol, Andrew voices what any reasonable person would be thinking. “This ship can’t be crewed by two men,” he says, and he’s right. The Dauntless couldn’t be. Andrew’s simply failed to grasp the full scope of Jack’s plan. When Elizabeth starts going on about cursed Aztec gold and pirates that can’t die, his disbelief is both reasonable and understandable, and it sets up the moment when he comes face to face with an undead pirate who shoots his hat off and he has to quickly readjust his view of things and start fighting the confounded thing.
Andrew’s “He already knows. A little mermaid flopped up on deck and told him,” line from the scene discussed above is ample evidence, for me at least, that Gillette is a rather witty fellow, and the segment of fandom that has fleshed him out has expanded on this characteristic. I have almost universally seen him written as having a quick mind and a sharp tongue, whether he’s observing the high society of Port Royal or advising the Commodore on important matters. Also, most of the stories that mention his younger days have him pegged as a conscientious student.
Representing ‘Heart,’ we have Commodore James Norrington. James is intelligent, yes, but when he makes big decisions, he is more likely to use his heart than to follow the course of action that strict rationality would dictate. James reveals an astonishing depth of feeling at several moments during the first movie, and more importantly, he acts on those feelings. When Elizabeth accepts his proposal after the rum island incident, the happiness he feels is plainly visible, and he soon decides to go after Will in order to make her happy. In the deleted scene that was supposed to follow shortly thereafter, where Norrington asks Elizabeth about her motivations for marrying him, he shows a classic ‘Heart’ character trait-an emotional honesty that won’t allow him to take her acceptance at face value when he suspects that she had ulterior motives.
James’ decision to let Jack go at the end of the first movie was based on feeling as well, on the personal conviction that the law was wrong and Jack should not be hanged. In letting Jack go, he lets his own conscience and compassion guide him, rather than the letter of the law. He does the same with Elizabeth after Jack has made his exit. He would have been within his rights to demand she honor their engagement, and a lesser man might have done just that. However, James knows it would be cruel to keep her from Will, and he has no desire for marriage with a woman whose heart did not truly lie with him.
James is the only one of the three characters in question to make an appearance in Dead Man’s Chest, and he doesn’t act so wisely or so honorably as he did in the first, but I still believe that he continues to display ‘Heart’ traits. In fact, he seems to be letting emotions such as anger, jealousy, and a desire for revenge get the best of him. Hence his drunken entrance in Tortuga and his going after Will at Jack’s prodding during the three-way swordfight. ‘Heart’ characters, when upset, are often especially unpleasant and unlikable, though. When people who tend to wear their hearts on their sleeves get hurt, it’s not pretty. Other fandom examples of this phenomenon include: Xander’s deep-seated grudge against Angel at the end of Buffy’s second season that makes him keep a very important piece of information from Buffy, and Harry Potter’s capslock of rage (on display on pretty much every page of Order of the Phoenix).
Representing ‘Body,’ we have Lieutenant Theodore Groves. This one was the hardest for me to defend, initially. We don’t get much of Groves in the movie, so I’m relying almost entirely on fanon here. Still, it fascinates me how well fandom as a group has made Theo fit into the only role left available.
In fic, Groves is usually the navy man who is most in touch with his physicality. He’s the exuberant one, he’s most likely to be drunk, he’s most likely to be frank about matters of sex. And (this is from my own very personal canon) as a midshipmen, Theo was the one who was most likely to get into trouble for taking a swing at some other, much larger kid who’d insulted him.
Often, but not always, ‘Body’ characters serve as comedic relief. They’re the ones who make us smile at their antics and their tendency to say inappropriate things at exactly the wrong time. Theo’s “best pirate I’ve ever seen” line, as Jack and Will sail away on the Interceptor and James looks like he’d like to nail whoever is responsible to a wall, is a classic example of this marvelously improper comedic timing.
One thing about trios that represent these different aspects is that they form a whole when they’re together. I think that this is why I love the fanon that James, Andrew, and Theo are all good friends, each of them brining something unique to the group.
Thoughts welcome! I’d love to discuss this.
This mind/heart/body classification works in many different fandoms. For example, with the core Buffy Scoobies-Willow is mind, Xander is heart, and Buffy is body. It works with the Three Musketeers-Aramis is mind, Athos is heart, and Porthos is most definitely body. It works with the Harry Potter kids too. Hermione is mind, Harry is heart, and Ron is body.
With these other trios in mind, I asked myself if the same could be done for the Naval trio in Pirates. I believe it can.
Before I begin, I must warn you that I am about to stretch canon as far as it will go in order to prove my point, and I’m also about to rely heavily on fanon and other fandom examples.
Representing ‘Mind,’ we have Lieutenant Andrew Gillette. From what we see of him in the first movie, Gillette is rational, witty, and sharp-minded. He thinks of the rocks when James is about to dive in after Elizabeth, and his rational attitude seems to be specifically included so that it can be foiled by Jack’s madness and the existence of the supernatural. When confronted by the barrel of Jack’s pistol, Andrew voices what any reasonable person would be thinking. “This ship can’t be crewed by two men,” he says, and he’s right. The Dauntless couldn’t be. Andrew’s simply failed to grasp the full scope of Jack’s plan. When Elizabeth starts going on about cursed Aztec gold and pirates that can’t die, his disbelief is both reasonable and understandable, and it sets up the moment when he comes face to face with an undead pirate who shoots his hat off and he has to quickly readjust his view of things and start fighting the confounded thing.
Andrew’s “He already knows. A little mermaid flopped up on deck and told him,” line from the scene discussed above is ample evidence, for me at least, that Gillette is a rather witty fellow, and the segment of fandom that has fleshed him out has expanded on this characteristic. I have almost universally seen him written as having a quick mind and a sharp tongue, whether he’s observing the high society of Port Royal or advising the Commodore on important matters. Also, most of the stories that mention his younger days have him pegged as a conscientious student.
Representing ‘Heart,’ we have Commodore James Norrington. James is intelligent, yes, but when he makes big decisions, he is more likely to use his heart than to follow the course of action that strict rationality would dictate. James reveals an astonishing depth of feeling at several moments during the first movie, and more importantly, he acts on those feelings. When Elizabeth accepts his proposal after the rum island incident, the happiness he feels is plainly visible, and he soon decides to go after Will in order to make her happy. In the deleted scene that was supposed to follow shortly thereafter, where Norrington asks Elizabeth about her motivations for marrying him, he shows a classic ‘Heart’ character trait-an emotional honesty that won’t allow him to take her acceptance at face value when he suspects that she had ulterior motives.
James’ decision to let Jack go at the end of the first movie was based on feeling as well, on the personal conviction that the law was wrong and Jack should not be hanged. In letting Jack go, he lets his own conscience and compassion guide him, rather than the letter of the law. He does the same with Elizabeth after Jack has made his exit. He would have been within his rights to demand she honor their engagement, and a lesser man might have done just that. However, James knows it would be cruel to keep her from Will, and he has no desire for marriage with a woman whose heart did not truly lie with him.
James is the only one of the three characters in question to make an appearance in Dead Man’s Chest, and he doesn’t act so wisely or so honorably as he did in the first, but I still believe that he continues to display ‘Heart’ traits. In fact, he seems to be letting emotions such as anger, jealousy, and a desire for revenge get the best of him. Hence his drunken entrance in Tortuga and his going after Will at Jack’s prodding during the three-way swordfight. ‘Heart’ characters, when upset, are often especially unpleasant and unlikable, though. When people who tend to wear their hearts on their sleeves get hurt, it’s not pretty. Other fandom examples of this phenomenon include: Xander’s deep-seated grudge against Angel at the end of Buffy’s second season that makes him keep a very important piece of information from Buffy, and Harry Potter’s capslock of rage (on display on pretty much every page of Order of the Phoenix).
Representing ‘Body,’ we have Lieutenant Theodore Groves. This one was the hardest for me to defend, initially. We don’t get much of Groves in the movie, so I’m relying almost entirely on fanon here. Still, it fascinates me how well fandom as a group has made Theo fit into the only role left available.
In fic, Groves is usually the navy man who is most in touch with his physicality. He’s the exuberant one, he’s most likely to be drunk, he’s most likely to be frank about matters of sex. And (this is from my own very personal canon) as a midshipmen, Theo was the one who was most likely to get into trouble for taking a swing at some other, much larger kid who’d insulted him.
Often, but not always, ‘Body’ characters serve as comedic relief. They’re the ones who make us smile at their antics and their tendency to say inappropriate things at exactly the wrong time. Theo’s “best pirate I’ve ever seen” line, as Jack and Will sail away on the Interceptor and James looks like he’d like to nail whoever is responsible to a wall, is a classic example of this marvelously improper comedic timing.
One thing about trios that represent these different aspects is that they form a whole when they’re together. I think that this is why I love the fanon that James, Andrew, and Theo are all good friends, each of them brining something unique to the group.
Thoughts welcome! I’d love to discuss this.