Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher

The first two chapters introduce Jeremy’s dreams, talents, and everyday struggles at home, setting the stage for the boy’s inner journey as he works on Overcoming Insecurities through Responsibility. In the opening scene, Jeremy’s many insecurities are in full view as he struggles to draw a dragon before enduring the bullying and taunts of his sour art teacher, Mr. Kravitz. The incident highlights one of the core conflicts that Jeremy must overcome; he is passionate about art, but because he struggles with external criticisms and self-doubt, he finds it difficult to connect with his innate talent. In connection with this issue, Bruce Coville firmly establishes the art teacher as a harsh, unsympathetic antagonist who holds an as-yet-unexplained contempt for Jeremy. The teacher’s behavior is soon revealed to be deeply petty, for he belittles the boy and imposes unreasonable rules, such as restricting paper usage. He also reads Mary Lou’s amorous note aloud to further humiliate Jeremy, worsening the protagonist’s feelings of embarrassment and inadequacy. Coville uses this scene to show the unfair power dynamics that sometimes play out between teachers and students, illustrating the damaging effects that a few unkind words can have on a student’s self-esteem. Overall, Mr. Kravitz’s critical and unsupportive behavior acts as a concrete representation of Jeremy’s obstacles to realizing his full potential as an artist. At this point, winning the art competition is Jeremy’s main goal, for it stands as a way to publicly reject and defy Mr. Kravitz’s criticism; if Jeremy were to win the competition, he would gain recognition and find much-needed validation of his artistic skills. Combined with the mistreatment he receives from his teacher and classmates, this desire establishes Jeremy as an underdog, and Coville has designed his character to appeal to those who have experienced similar situations in their own lives.

Jeremy’s accidental discovery of Elives’s Magic Supplies is the first major turning point in the story, for the shop serves as a symbolic threshold dividing the ordinary from the extraordinary. The setting functions as a literary “liminal space,” or a transitional place in which the boundaries between the real and the fantastical are blurred together. With its dark, mysterious ambiance and curious items, the shop represents a complete departure from Jeremy’s otherwise mundane life in the small town of Blodgett’s Crossing. The circumstances in which Jeremy encounters the shop also reinforce its strange magic, for by this point in the narrative, he is lost and has taken several unfamiliar turns that leave him floundering in a mysterious fog. The magical nature of the encounter is further emphasized when Mr. Elives insists that “[n]o one comes into this shop just to look around” (22). Additionally, his immediate knowledge of Jeremy’s name suggests that the boy’s arrival at the shop is not an accident, nor is it entirely his own choice. Combined with the fact that Tiamat’s egg chooses him, it is clear that Jeremy is meant connect with the little dragon to further her development and his own. Mr. Elives’s willingness to sell the egg to Jeremy for just a quarter implies that the act of payment itself is more of a formality than an actual price, suggesting that magic and new paths in life are always accessible to those who believe and are willing to embrace them.

As the son of a veterinarian, Jeremy sometimes helps in his father’s clinic, and he has more than a passing understanding of how to care for animals. His skills at caregiving and concern for living things are both aptly demonstrated by the fact that he already has many different pets and is willing to help his father with his animal patients. With these pointed details, Coville establishes Jeremy as someone who is keenly interested in and knowledgeable of the natural world. These interests and the boy’s innate empathy for living things will prove to be crucial attributes that allow him to experience The Mutual Benefits of Caregiving once Tiamat hatches and he becomes responsible for her well-being.