Consider MJ Tanner, One of My Original Characters
So, who is MJ Tanner?
Her full name is Mary Jacqueline Tanner, and she had such a strong voice that I just had to write about her. MJ is the quirky star of The Duck in the Seat Cushion.
Where Did MJ Tanner Come From?
Much like Josie James, Ceilidh O’Malley, and Craig Firenze, MJ emerged almost fully formed, and almost immediately.
The Past is Prologue — Backstory for MJ Tanner
Please recognize that this character review is going to have a ton of spoilers. So, you have been duly warned.
Before the action in the book gets underway, MJ is essentially just an Oklahoma farm girl, born in 1949, with her main difference being that her mother is fairly exotic, a Parisian war bride. MJ and her full-blooded brother Sid and their mother are all Jews.
They’re the only Jews in Broken Arrow.
Description
A somewhat stout, blonde Oklahoma farm girl, MJ laments that she got ‘none’ of her mother’s ethnic good looks. To me, she resembles a young Reese Whitherspoon and sounds somewhat similar.
MJ Tanner and her Purpose/Theme/Motivation
Because the book is written as a kind of mock memoir, a lot of MJ’s purpose in life is to get from point A (age fourteen/almost fifteen) to point Z (age seventy-five).
In the meantime, a lot of her motivations also center around facing her mother and learning to get along with her stepmother and stepbrother. And, given that these are farm folks in the 1960s, yes, there is even a lot of time devoted to saving the family farm.
Quotes {MJ’s family has had a rock thrown through a window, with a note attached and a swastika drawn on it. Her school is having an assembly to address the incident}
I looked for the friendliest face I could see. Until recently, I never would have seen him that way. But that face belonged to Hal. He nodded at me once, so I took it as a sign of permission to do what I felt I had to do.
I got up and calmly walked to the podium where the principal was standing. “Hi,” I said to him. “Is it okay if I say something, too?”
“Of course. It directly affects you, Mary Jacqueline.”
I looked out at the senior class. … “I bet it was really disappointing for you, to learn that none of us got hurt. …. Or maybe you planned it that way, because you didn’t want to face us. It’s easier to just write a note and throw a rock and draw a symbol that you don’t really understand.”
I shrugged. “Why should you care about my family? … the only Jewish person who lives in our house now—you know who that is? Huh? It’s me. It’s just me.”
I paused to look them all in the eye. “Or maybe you thought you’d catch Sid’s in-laws. Was that it? … you’re siding with the monsters who put numbers on their arms and murdered their families. And you’re against all those men—fathers of most of us here—who fought on D-Day. Instead, you decided to throw in your lot with the other side. … I’m sure you think you’re American. But you’ve decided you prefer our enemies.” I shook my head. I stood for a moment, trying to think of what else to say.
Hal ambled up and stood next to me. “I’m on your side, MJ,” he said.
I turned and looked out at the sea of faces again. “… you didn’t break us.”
Relationships for MJ Tanner
In essence, the entire book is all about her relationships. If I went into all of them, I would be writing until the heat death of the universe, heh. So, rather than going into overkill, here are a few that loom very large.
Jim Franklin
Given that MJ is a writer, the idea of her falling for the boy next door is a cliché. She even complains about that within the context of the story.
But once I had started to understand the character, and MJ started to understand him as well, I suppose we both came to the conclusion that he was the best person for her.
Levi and Chloe Franklin
MJ and Jim have twins when rubella (German measles) is at its worst. And Broken Arrow, being a tiny town, doesn’t get the MMR vaccine in time. The loss of anyone’s child will gut pretty much anyone. MJ is no exception.
Walt Tanner
Left to care for both MJ and his son Sid when MJ is fourteen, Walt is a much more hands-on father than the vast, vast majority of men of the time. But Walt is also straightforward and brooks no nonsense.
When MJ suffers heartache, he bluntly tells her that she brought it all upon herself.
Walt is also a lot more liberal and tolerant than most men of the day, particularly for that part of the United States.
But this makes sense, seeing as he marries a Jewish woman who he barely knows. When the draft for the Vietnam war threatens his son and stepson, he’s the one who suggests finding alternatives.
And those alternatives are supposed to be legal. But it feels very much like Walt would look the other way if they weren’t. When Walt passes, Jim says that MJ lets out a wail similar to that when the twins each died.
Lisette Bloch Tanner
MJ’s less than perfect mother is unconventional at best. At her worst, Lisette is irresponsible, particularly when she abandons the family (See, I told you there were spoilers in here. But did you listen? Hmm?).
Because MJ is so young when this happens, her first instincts are to try to keep in touch. And eventually, when the opportunity presents itself in a rather roundabout way, she goes to confront Lisette.
But the meeting between Lisette Bloch Kleinman and MJ Tanner isn’t a fight or a reckoning. Rather, it’s more of a cautious reunion and serves as a transition to the middle third of the book.
Graceanne Davis Mason Brown Tanner
MJ’s relationship with her stepmother does not start out well. But they grow on each other and eventually come to a deep understanding and even mutual love and affection.
Some of their understanding hinges on MJ getting along better with Graceanne’s son, Hal. But another aspect of it is Graceanne accepting that MJ and Sid are never going to convert, and she should just stop trying and accept them the way they are.
Sid Tanner
MJ’s brother is a sensible, down to earth accounting student who got their mother’s looks and, therefore, looks stereotypically Jewish. This has resulted in him having been bullied in school and threatened by antisemites.
But MJ, who essentially can ‘pass’ for gentile, does not suffer this until high school…
Hal Brown, Jr.
… Except for at the hands of Hal. When MJ meets her future stepbrother, he threatens her and refers to Sid by a slur. But MJ can hold her own and kicks him in the shins before running to tell Walt.
And, because Hal demands that MJ do his homework for him, MJ asks Walt and Graceanne if she can be paid to tutor Hal, figuring she may as well make some money off him.
But tutoring Hal turns out to be harder than it would appear at first blush, as he is dyslexic and likely also has a degree of autism and/or ADHD. Being able to reach and truly help him leads to them finally being able to bury the hatchet.
Will Tanner
When Graceanne and Walt have a son together, MJ is of the ideal age to babysit. It being the mid-1960s, she entertains the baby by singing along to the songs on the radio, including Wooly Bully.
Ariel Kleinman
I don’t have a lot on MJ and Ariel’s direct relationship. The half-sister from Lisette’s second marriage is part of the glue that holds this whole patchwork family together.
The Brady Bunch, they ain’t.
The OG Snowy and Edge of Seventeen Snowy
Two of MJ Tanner’s most important relationships are with two separate dogs. The original (OG) Snowy is her heart dog, and she feels as deeply for him as she does for her human family.
The Edge is the seventeenth dog her family names Snowy. And while he’s not quite her heart dog, he’s almost a reincarnation of the original.
Conflict and Turning Point
With several turning points in the overall story, there are several for MJ.
Probably the three biggest are when her mother leaves, when she defends Graceanne, and when Addison Acreage threatens the farm.
The secondary three are most likely when MJ is first confronted with antisemitism, when she and Jim get together, and when she has to start facing her own mortality.
There are more, and then whole story really belongs to her. But those are some of the biggest conflicts and changes in her life.
Continuity/Easter Eggs
MJ shows up in the mega, massive crossover, Timelines are Alive with, of all people, her eventual brother-in-law, Joe Crowley, jr.
Future Plans for MJ Tanner
I’m not so sure that I have future plans for ole MJ. Without getting too heavily into spoiler territory, a lot of her life is already on the page.
MJ Tanner: Takeaways
I truly, madly, and deeply love this character.
Her voice is as strong as those of Ceilidh O’Malley, Craig Firenze, Josie James, and Peri Martin.
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