Analyzing Dawn...
Heh - I figure I might as well take the plunge and actually post something substantial in my silly little journal. Elsewhere, I’ve made it a habit of rambling about little Dawn Summers - a character that intrigues me, as I rarely see her being analyzed. So for posterity’s sake, I figure I’ll consolidate some of my past and present thoughts regarding the youngest Summers girl...


A bit of a preface - one thing that draws me to the Buffyverse is its wealth of richly textured and well-realized inhabitants. These characters are written with intricate emotional layers that are fascinating to analyze. And from my perspective, little Dawn Summers is no exception. I know there are those who aren’t fond of her - and that’s cool by me. But Dawn is a character I’ve really grown to enjoy. I think she holds her fair share of depth, complexity, and significance.

Thematically, I see her intrinsically linked to the notion of ‘family’. To throw in a fun fact - according to Kristine Sutherland, Joss originally envisioned Dawn as a five or six year-old girl that Joyce would adopt. However, Joss later came up with the notion of the Key, which evolved into a metaphorical adoption story. And that’s what we saw play out during Season 5. To a large extent, that was the heart of Dawn’s S5 story - a metaphor for a girl finding out that she’s adopted. On first viewing, I didn’t notice this aspect of things. But when re-watching it through that lens, there’s so much neat subtext built into the season. Especially during Blood Ties - Steven DeKnight was specifically instructed to write that episode as a metaphor for adoption. And I really love the sentiment it expresses…

To illustrate the parallels - in the real world, how would a girl feel if she found out her family was not her biological family? What effect would it have on her? Initially, the girl might feel somewhat betrayed and lied to. She might question whether her adoptive parents/siblings are even her ‘real’ family… she might feel as though she’s been living a life under false pretenses. Dawn goes through all of this during Blood Ties. Yet in the end, the episode sends a very heartfelt message about adoption. Because as Buffy tells Dawn - “It doesn't matter how you got here or where you came from. You are my sister”. Which sends a message that I quite enjoy - the notion that shared lineage doesn’t necessarily make a family ‘real’… instead it’s intimate emotional connections that truly define a family. Love is what makes a family genuine.

As such, I found a lot of resonance in the Summers family interactions. And looking back at it, I find Dawn’s plight quite affecting. Finding out that she’s the Key was a traumatic event - in one fell swoop she lost her sense of normalcy, her sense of self, and her sense of family. With the help of her sister and mother, she was starting to piece those things together. But the whole ordeal brought to light some of Dawn’s own emotional issues. Basically, the poor kid has a tendency towards self-flagellation - she often blames herself for things that are totally beyond her control. You start seeing this trait exhibited during Listening To Fear and Forever. And later, you see Dawn blaming herself for Spike’s wounds, Tara’s brain-suck, and Giles’ harpooning. Technically, the girl had no control over any of that - yet the poor kid still blames herself for everyone else’s woe. She feels there must be something inherently wrong with her, and even says as much - “I’m like a lightning rod for pain and hurt, and everyone around me suffers and dies”. That’s a rather dreadful way to look at oneself... but given all she’s been through, Dawn is building up some major self-worth issues. When something goes wrong in her life, she often finds a way to blame it on herself...

Which is something that carries over to S6!Dawn. Heh - I know that some folk don’t have much sympathy for Dawn of Season Six. And on my own first viewing of that season, I really didn’t attune myself to the character. So I also had my moments where I was like… “Grr! - what’s up with this kid?” But since then, I’ve put a lot more thought into her situation. And now I have a great deal of sympathy for her plight - in my view, the poor girl has reason to become such a mess. It’s a sentiment that Joss Whedon echoes. He states that to understand Dawn's turmoil, you must consider that ‘she's been abandoned by about six parental figures... she has huge issues’. Only upon re-watching S6 did I fully tap into Whedon’s sentiment. There were indeed (at least) six parental figures taken from Dawn’s life… and I started seeing how the toll on her was becoming worse and worse.

To illustrate…

• Joyce - losing one's mother is devastating for any child. The relationship between Dawn and Joyce was portrayed as very warm and loving - and when Joyce passes away, Dawn takes it very hard. During Forever, we see just how desperate Dawn is for a stable parental figure - without her mother, the girl feels so lost that she literally attempts to raise the dead. Like any child, she needs the affection, acceptance and security that a parent brings. The only reason Dawn does away with zombie!Joyce is due to a renewed emotional connection with Buffy. From that point forward, Buffy is the one who fills a motherly role towards Dawn. And that bond becomes very potent. But then Buffy dies… and in rapid succession, Dawn has lost the two most important people in her life. I think that left some rather serious emotional scars.
  
  
• Buffybot - Dawn’s interactions with Buffybot subtly reveal how damaged the child is. The poor kid clings to this machine as though it were her real sister - she even refers to it as ‘Buffy’, and has to correct herself afterwards. When Buffybot cheerfully hugs Dawn and says, “you’re my sister”, watch the child’s face - you see a poignant mix of awkwardness and appreciation. And when Dawn lies in bed next to the Buffybot? - that just about broke my heart. The poor girl misses her sister so much, that she seeks comfort in this artificial recreation. During Bargaining, note that it’s Buffybot that takes Dawn to parent-teacher day. There’s a lot of sad irony in that fact… Dawn’s ‘parent’ in that scenario isn’t even a real person. Which is subtle foreshadowing of the child’s S6 issues - because at heart, S6!Dawn is a girl trying to find a parent.
  
  
• Giles - was pretty much a parental figure for all the Scoobs. When he leaves the first time, watch the way the scene is put together - his goodbye to Dawn is given a great deal of weight. The camera lingers on those two for quite a while. Afterwards, Dawn is shown stammering, and seems upset. And when she later tells Buffy how Giles left, she sounds weirded out by the notion.
  
  
• Buffy - losing Buffy was traumatic enough the first time. When she returns, Dawn tells her how difficult it’s been. She begs her sister to stay, and says something I view as rather prophetic - “I promise I'll do better, I will… if you're with me…” But that’s the thing of it - for most of the season, Buffy *isn’t* with Dawn. After her resurrection, Buffy is suffering from her own damage, and is far too messed-up to be a stable parental figure. She pawns Dawn off on Giles, takes little interest in the kid’s life, and gives off the impression that she’s miserable, and wants to leave. I think that had a profoundly negative effect on Dawn… because Buffy is the most central and defining figure in the child’s life. Dawn seeks Buffy’s love and acceptance above all else. So when Buffy withdraws and grows distant, the poor kid doesn’t understand why. She starts assuming that she's the cause of Buffy's misery. She feels that Buffy can't stand to be around her - as I said earlier, Dawn has a habit of blaming herself when she shouldn't. You see this come to light during Dead Things and Normal Again. After losing so many people, Dawn is building up some severe self-esteem and abandonment issues.
  
  
• Tara - was the one person who was doing a good parental job with Dawn. So when she leaves the house, Dawn is devastated - if you re-watch Tara’s exit scene in Tabula Rasa, Dawn seems to take things tremendously personally. Considering that Giles was also leaving (again), Dawn is hit with a double-whammy of abandonment. Being the empathic person she is, Tara is the only Scoob that clues in on Dawn’s emotional suffering. She gently tells the child that ‘my moving out had nothing to do with you’. She realizes that Dawn has started blaming herself for all the abandonment going on in her life.
  
  
• Willow - like Tara, Willow played a parental role at Casa De Summers (before Buffy was resurrected). After spending many a night alone, Dawn is comforted when Willow agrees to spend some time with her. But rather than providing Dawn with a renewed sense of safety, addict!Willow ruptures it even further. She does the opposite of what a responsible guardian would do - she taunts Dawn, and gets her into a car accident, thus breaking her arm.
  
  
• Spike - in my view, the Spike/Dawn dynamic was quite charming (and on a sidenote - I wish they repaired that friendship during S7). But to get back on topic - ironically, Spike was more protective of Dawn than most of the Scoobs. As such, Dawn felt safe being around him and asks to be taken to his crypt. At which point, she finds out he’s left town without saying goodbye. She tries to remain loyal to him, but then Xander tells her about Spike’s assault on Buffy. And thus Dawn’s sense of safety evaporates.
  

Prior to that, Dawn had already been exposed to a rather horrific event - Tara’s death. Note how deliriously happy Dawn was when Tara was moving back in - by that point, Tara was one of the few people who made Dawn feel safe. The girl was so grateful to have Tara back in the house. And then the poor kid finds Tara's body, cold and dead on the floor - which was akin to losing a motherly figure all over again. That whole scene where Dawn is huddled in the corner, pretty much breaks my heart. Especially Dawn’s reason for staying in the room - “I didn’t want to leave her alone”. That line really struck a chord. Because a huge element of Dawn’s S6 story was the pain of being alone - I found it quite tragic that she couldn’t bear the thought of Tara being lonely.

So yeah - Dawn makes a whole lot more sense to me, now. On first viewing of S6, I really didn’t pay much attention to her. I didn’t think about what she was going through, and I didn’t pick up on the subtle cues of her emotional issues. But when re-watching, I see exactly what Joss is alluding to - a child being faced with a steady stream of loss and abandonment. For me at least, it helps explain why she becomes so messed-up - and it makes me quite sympathetic to her plight. Everyone keeps leaving her, and she keeps blaming herself. The poor kid is bouncing off the Scoobs, trying to find a stable parental figure - yet they all fail her. She’s deathly afraid of being left alone. Yet none of the Scoobs realize how desperately insecure she is. Her rebelliousness slowly transmutes into a full-blown cry for help - but no-one takes notice. IMO, all the parental abandonment wreaked havoc on Dawn’s sense of safety, and self-esteem. And as Halfrek pointed out, none of the Scoobs clued in on the cause and extent of her pain.

That being said, I don’t blame the gang for not noticing Dawn. I love all the Scoobs - and bless their hearts, they all had their own issues to deal with. In general, the S6!Scoobs fell victim to a very troubled, and splintered group dynamic - and that had a damaging effect on all of them. They were all battling their own problems, and often didn’t notice the effect they were having on Dawn. So in the end, all their problems intertwined in a rather tragic fashion. No child can be emotionally healthy without a stable parental figure. But due to their own issues, none of the Scoobs were well equipped to fill that role. Joss has often described the Scooby Gang as a ‘created family’ - I think S6 exposed the pain caused when that family dynamic fell apart. Which is why Dawn tugs at my heartstrings - because I see her as a rather damaged child who’s very much in need of a family.

As I’ve said previously, I think Dawn’s place in the narrative is synonymous with a ‘family’ theme. Consider Normal Again - that ep contains some fun meta-comments about the story of BtVS. In the episode, the entire mythos of Sunnydale is described as a mere delusion of crazy!Buffy. And that allows for some intriguing implications during those mental institution scenes. The doctor tells Buffy that - “you’re with your family”. And upon hearing the word ‘family’, Buffy automatically whispers the name ‘Dawn’. The doctor then notes that Buffy inserted Dawn into her delusion to fulfill the need for a familial bond. Which IMO, is a neat way of noting how the writers inserted Dawn into the story to explore the nature of familial bonds.

As such, I think Dawn holds a pretty important place in the Buffyverse - thematically, I find the notion of family quite resonant. And Dawn nicely illuminates different aspects of familial bonds. During S5, we see the emotion involved in the presence of family. During S6, we see the damage done in the absence of family. And for me at least, the Buffy/Dawn dynamic became one of the most heartfelt relationships on the show. There are so many neat contrasts and parallels between my Summers girls. In many ways Dawn is a reflection of Buffy - yet in many ways they completely diverge. But regardless of the similarities and differences, the two girls are very much connected. For Dawn, Buffy is pretty much the center of her universe - the child’s emotional health is hugely dependant on Buffy’s affection. So when S7!Buffy starts showing Dawn some steady, positive attention, little Dawn really blossoms. She’s finally got what she needed all along - a stable sense of family.

Beyond that, I quite like Dawn in and of herself. Beneath her emotional issues, I see a very sweet and caring girl. I love her dorky, awkward, wide-eyed exuberance. And I quite enjoy the youthful vibe she brought to the Scoobs. Plus, whenever Dawn and Buffy get all sisterly, I often break out into a smile - I like seeing my Summers girls happy. Personally, I enjoy Dawn in all her iterations. She has moments where she’s brimming with bubbly enthusiasm and times when she’s completely lacking in confidence - through it all, she remains somewhat of an ingénue. Like any person, she has her flaws and her foibles and her moments of angst - but there are so many moments where I find her charming and quite heart-breaking. So in the end, I’ve built up quite a bit of affection for the littlest Summers girl.

Well - if you’ve managed to read through all that, you deserve a medal of some sort! Thanks to anyone who sat through my silly long-winded ramblings =)

- Allyson (elsewhere known as Lil Miss Muffet)