Re: Digest Number 1034

[danspector@xxxxxxxxx]

Al,

(Spoiler space not needed for this post)

Sorry if I let myself be misunderstood. I don't mean that Buffy would
normally lose herself in amoral violence a la Faith, but that her normal
reaction to all the many tragedies in her life is to develop a hard
exterior and focus on the world outside of her, so she doesn't have to
deal with her grief. For example, in "Forever", she threw herself so
fully into managing the funeral that Dawn didn't think Joyce's death had
affected her at all. She normally hides behind anger, slaying, etc. so
she doesn't have to deal with pain--which is about the exact opposite
of the listless, self-pitying girl who lacks "fire" this year. 

Her near-suicidal state in "the Gift" is a good point, but then if
Buffy's behavior is tied to her desire to live, shouldn't she have
gotten the "fire" back in "Gone", when she discovered she preferred
being alive?

Buffy's natural state is to formulate plans and try to control her life
(part coping mechanism, part avoidance). As I've written before,
sometimes they're stupid plans (Becoming--run away, get a job, save my
friends from my awful presence; Homecoming--hide Angel, date Scott,
lie to everyone), but she's got them. Seeing her so indecisive and
adrift this year seems very much out of character to me.

JMO,

Dan