That Tachimant Boy

As long as I can remember, readers have had a little thing about Don Tachimant, the hero of Jurant. One girl told me “his character grabbed me right from the start” and another reportedly said that a later, very slightly altered version of Jurant with fewer words “wasn’t the same.” He was all right, still cool, but he wasn’t the same. I found this odd because Don’s character never grabbed me at all and he did the exact same things in this later Jurant version. He even had most of the same dialogue. What could be so different about him?
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I never did figure out the inexplicable way Don was always mentioned. But I can tell you a few things I DO know about Don and one is that he always does the wrong thing. Pretty much always. Not because he’s a bad boy, but because he’s honestly a bit dense. And seems compelled to have the wrong reaction to a situation, as if he doesn’t know what’s good for him. From the first lines we’re told “Don Tachimant hated his grandfather” and this, like everything else Don does in the story, is not a good idea.

Don’s grandfather is a bad person, but worrying about him isn’t necessary. The opening scene shows a man in higher authority scheming to deal with and investigate him. Lord Tachimant is not getting away with anything, even though Don’s sister Julie died. People have been suspicious for years. That’s why Don is sent back—there’s a plan already in motion. Don does not need to freak out, run away from the school, pretend to be a criminal, and basically go around blowing things up. And he doesn’t need to attach emotionally to Julie in this morbid way. She actually wasn’t a terribly likable girl, though we don’t get to see much of her, and seems very weak. Weakness is not a good quality and there’s no need for Don to sentimentalize it.

There might be something cute about reacting so much to situations—something vulnerable, for lack of a better word. And many readers love a vulnerable hero. (Even if he doesn’t mean to be, in Don’s case, and would not be pleased with that term.) But because he permanently makes mistakes, I just never thought he was very interesting. People who do the wrong thing all the time aren’t commendable.

And there will be more updates.