Half The Man I Used To Be

For this blog I wanted to look at Xander. What is his role thus far in the series and what is he moving towards. Xander has been struggling throughout the show with expressing his manliness as well as marking his usefulness in the Slayer's life and his purpose in the scooby gang. There is only one other male who remains in Buffy's life consistently and that is Giles who takes on a father figure for Buffy. When looking at the gang as a family unit, Xander could be considered the brother. Perhaps even the little brother. He seems to be maturing and growing and at times even expresses the need to prove himself to Buffy by taking charge of some situations. The military background was essential to Xander's role in the show because it gives him something to contribute. In Graduation Xander has a key role in arming the graduating class so they could be a distraction to the mayor and the vampires who kept guard. In the Freshman, Xander was the only one who didn't go to college. He seems to be fulfilling the little brother role of staying home while big sister (Buffy) goes to college.

To go along with this idea of little brother following big sister's footsteps, Xander's progression appears to mimick Buffy's but at a slower pace. Xander has gone through the period of realization just as Buffy did. He's trying to discover who he is and what his role is in relation to that of his friends and his relationship (or lack thereof) with Faith. Finally he's gone away for a while after a traumatic experience. Xander's lack of understanding when Faith showed her true colors mimicks Buffy's lack of control when Angel turned into Angelous. And just as Buffy left in Anne and came back to a changed world, Xander has gone and come back where things are not as he remembers them.