Becoming the Slayer

The first three episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer focus a great deal on the idea the Buffy is a young girl who is slowly coming to grips with the fact that she is "the chosen one". The very first episode, "Welcome to the Hellmouth", begins with her first day at school and it contains many instances which show her expressing her desire to be "normal". She reassures her principal that she will not cause any trouble. Thus, suggesting that she believes that since she has moved she can leave behind her calling and lead a life that is not frequented with danger. This desire to be normal is further shown in her meetings with Giles in this first episode. Giles, as a watcher, tries to explain to Buffy that being the slayer is not something she can run from. However, Buffy struggles to reach that level of realization. It appears as though she fights the vampires because she is compelled to and not necessarily because it is her desire.

The most important scene that expresses Buffy's struggle between leading a normal life and discovering her calling as the slayer in "The Harvest" is shown when Buffy pulls out a chest and opens to display objects of a typical, normal childhood that a teenager might keep. When Buffy removes the upper part of the chest, though, the viewer sees the objects of a slayer. Not only is Buffy hiding her identity under a mask of normalcy, she is struggling to find closure between the two.

The third episode, "Witch", involves the viewer more directly with Buffy's crisis of a torn identity between slayer and teenager. Giles tries to warn Buffy that cheerleading should be the furthest thing from a slayer's mind. Somehow the typical teenage universe meshes with her call to be a slayer and Buffy is pushed one step closer into the reality that her life as a slayer will take control over her life as a typical teen.

Buffy must soon realize that she can not dismiss her powers or her calling as was her desire in the first episode. As the season progresses, she becomes more acceptable of her destiny and with the close of each episode she comes to the realization of the important role that she plays in the safety of humanity, therefore sacrificing her own "normal life" for the preservation of humankind.