Do you think Miguel was a good addition in regards to the larger narrative? (DEH Book spoilers below!!)
I’ll begin by mentioning I’m not actually finished with the DEH book yet, therefore I might not have enough context. So if that's the case, you can feel free to kindly let me know. But I skimmed pretty much all of Connor’s parts (not spoiling the parts related to the actual story, just wanted to learn about Miguel), and I needed to get my initial thoughts out.
From what little I've seen, it seems like folks in the fandom absolutely love Miguel. (A quick search on here makes that extremely clear). But currently my feelings are incredibly mixed.
Of course, from just a general a fan and/or character perspective, it’s wonderful that Connor had someone in his life he could turn to. Their relationship is fun, and interesting, and heartbreaking. Miguel for the most part seems like a lovely guy.
The main thing within the story itself that makes me question Miguel is when he belittles Connor for having a copy of The Little Prince. He might have meant nothing by it, it could have been a continuation of him saying that Connor was innocent, and he may have meant it positively, jokingly, and/or flirtingly(?). But, especially as Connor explicitly says he was making fun of him, it seemed like he was belittling him in a way that...really wasn't kind? Especially considering that Connor absolutely loves books, that’s a red flag for me. A friend who puts down the things you love, even in a joke...isn't truly a friend. I honestly thought Connor was going to describe how their relationship started to slowly decline from there, so I was rather shocked when next thing I know they’re woohooing. And that red flag moment never seems to be addressed. Why was that in there if Miguel was supposed to be a purely positive influence?
The other thing is him not saying anything when Connor took the fall for the weed. This isn’t too bad of an offense, but the fact that it sent Connor to rehab—and thus it drastically altered his life—and Miguel doesn’t seem to feel bad at all is questionable for me. Again, not too bad, but makes me give the side eye. (Though I might have missed something in my skimming).
But, more than anything…I currently honestly don’t think Miguel was a good addition specifically from a writing perspective.
I’m a writer and always look at things at least in some capacity from a writing perspective. If I’m looking at this from a purely fan standpoint, yes, of course we want Connor to be happy. This is something I could totally see being a cute fic where someone ships him with their OC and gives him some happiness.
But looking at it from a writers perspective, it doesn’t seem to improve the overall story.
One of the things that makes this story so beautiful to me is that Connor and Evan were in pretty much the exact same place mentally. They both didn’t have any friends, struggled with mental illness, with their relationships with their parents, their overall loneliness. DEH isn’t just Evan’s story, it’s Connor’s too. Some of it fabricated and some of it real, and part of what makes it interesting as an audience member is trying to figure out what was real. Connor fell victim to the loneliness in his head, and Evan almost did but ultimately made it out. Evan’s fabricated friendship is meant to go both ways. Both Evan and Connor didn’t have friends, and the true sadness is that they could have been friends if they realized they were such kindred spirits. Evan’s lie actually could have been real. They both would have wanted it.
Connor actually having a secret best friend, diminishes the power of the story at large so much for me. Because now Evan’s lie is just that. There’s no beautiful tragedy where they were both lonely and both would have wanted this friendship to be real. Connor already had a friend (more than a friend) and Evan was...kinda just a nuisance to him.
Connor's suicide wasn’t coming from the same place Evan’s attempt was—which, again, them both attempting suicide for similar reasons is something I always found beautifully tragic in the story. And Evan admitting that is, if not the climax, a climax. But...Connor wasn’t lonely over the summer just like Evan, he was lonely because he lost his boyfriend. He wasn’t struggling with his first day in the same way Evan was, feeling invisible, and succumbing to it. It seems like he was mainly missing his boyfriend, and that’s what he succumbed to. While definitely a valid reason to feel the way Connor felt, it removes beautifully tragic mirroring between him and Evan and weakens the greater narrative to me.
I was so excited when I learned that ghost-Connor would be narrating parts of the book. I loved getting to know him more, and I absolutely adored getting to hear his perspective on events that we don’t get to hear in any other version of the story. Within what's fake and what's real, Connor gets to tell us what's real, beyond what we imagined. That first chapter from Connor's POV where he wakes up dead is probably my favorite chapter in the whole book so far. I would have loved so much if ghost-Connor started talking about how he really wished he and Evan were friends. That we now get both sides of the tragedy where we never did before: here Evan is lying they they were friends, but genuinely desiring that, and here Connor is going “…I wish this were true too.” (I mean he sorta does say that but not to the extent I was thinking. It’s kinda an offhand “huh I guess that would have been interesting. Anyway back to Miguel.”).
But…like halfway through the book it’s no longer about Connor’s perspective on the story, it’s not about the mirroring, and the greater themes of the story—or honestly even just the story we know—we just get to hear about his adventures with his secret boyfriend. Don’t get me wrong, they are interesting to read about. Like I said before, I feel like this would be a delightful fanfic. But I don’t feel like it adds a lot to the story at large, and honestly seems to detract from it.
Like I said, this is my initial skimthrough. My feelings could change later, especially when i have more context. But I honestly needed to vent. And I’d love to hear people’s thoughtful discussion on the issue, as I think it might give me a better perspective as I go through and read those parts again.
