The Smallest Dragonboy

“Keevan was forced to wonder why being small was reprehensible. People were always calling him ‘babe’ and shooing him away as being ‘too small’ or ‘too young’ for this or that. Keevan was constantly working, twice as hard as any other boy his age, to prove himself capable. What if his muscles weren’t as big as Beterli’s? They were just as hard. And if he couldn’t overpower anyone in a wrestling match, he could outdistance everyone in a footrace.”

Keevan’s size is something he can’t escape, despite his efforts. While others of normal or larger size are assumed capable, Keevan is stuck working twice as hard to earn the approval that others are granted automatically. Though there are instances when Keevan displays internalized bias and self-doubt due to his size, he is aware that his unique strengths, such as speed and resolve, lie outside physical size and strength.

“‘Maybe if you run fast enough,’ Beterli had jeered on the occasion when Keevan had been goaded to boast of his swiftness, ‘you could catch a dragon. That’s the only way you’ll make a dragonrider!’”

Beterli’s teasing about Keevan’s supposed speed foreshadows the moment when he Impresses a dragon. Despite having been beaten with a shovel, Keevan’s determination allows him to amass the speed necessary to make it to the Hatching Ground in time to cross paths with Heth as the dragon attempts to exit.

“He would have liked to wipe the contemptuous smile from Beterli’s face, but the guy didn’t fight fair even when a wingsecond was watching.”

Keevan follows the rules and treats others fairly, but Beterli doesn’t adhere to the same values. Despite being aware of this fact, Keevan avoids stooping to his level, which demonstrates his strength of character. In the end, Keevan’s honor is rewarded, while Beterli is banned from Impression due to his unworthy behavior.

“He’d even settle for a green dragon: they were small, but so was he. No matter! He simply had to Impress a dragon his first time in the Hatching Ground. Then no one in the Weyr would taunt him anymore for being so small.”

Though Keevan wishes others wouldn’t judge him by his size, he’s unable to escape the internalized bias that physical size indicates worth. By claiming he will “settle” for a green dragon, which are in low demand due to their being diminutive, Keevan reflects his community’s norms.

“Keevan had an egg he concentrated on, too, one drawn slightly to the far side of the others. The shell had a soft greenish-blue tinge with a faint creamy swirl design. The consensus was that this egg contained a mere green, so Keevan was rarely bothered by rivals.”

Keevan is drawn to an egg that is separated from the others, just as he is separate from the group of candidates. The egg is suspected to house only a green, the smallest of dragons, making it undesirable due to others’ presumptions and biases.

“Much as he hated Beterli, he couldn’t bring himself to tattle on Beterli and force him out of candidacy.”

Keevan’s actions exemplify the strength and compassion of his character. This contrasts with his foil Beterli’s recent goading. Although if the roles were reversed, Beterli would be likely to have Keevan eliminated from candidacy, Keevan cannot bear to do this to another boy.

“His worry increased, because although he heard excited comings and goings in the passageway, no one tweaked back the curtain across the sleeping alcove he shared with five other boys. Surely one of them would have to come in sometime. No, they were all avoiding him. And something else was wrong. Only he didn’t know what.”

Despite five other boys’ living in this shared space with Keevan, no one come to check on him. Keevan automatically assumes he’s being avoided. His reaction to this instance and his worries about what people will think of him after Beterli beats him point toward his lack of friends and his loneliness. This illustrates his reasons for listing having a lifetime friend as the first advantage of being chosen by a dragon.

“But if he hurried down the ramp, he’d fall flat on his face. He could, of course, go flat on his rear end, the way crawling children did. He sat down, sending a jarring stab of pain through his leg and up to the wound on the back of his head. Gritting his teeth and blinking away tears, Keevan scrabbled down the ramp.”

In Keevan’s injured state, going down the ramp on his rear like a child becomes the best option, as opposed to running down it like an adult. Ironically, despite his repeated efforts to prove he’s not “too young” for candidacy, using the techniques of children allows him to make it down the ramp and to the Hatching Ground for Impression.

“Never had the distance between living caverns and the Hatching Ground seemed so great. Never had the Weyr been so breathlessly silent. It was as if the multitude of people and dragons watching the hatching held every breath in suspense.”

The hyperbolic language used to convey Keevan’s haste in reaching the Hatching Ground amplifies the tension surrounding his journey and whether he will arrive on time. The level of detail attributed to a routine journey Keevan has made countless times emphasizes the importance of this particular Impression.

“Twice he fell into the sand and had to pull himself up on the stick, his white tunic no longer spotless. Once he jarred himself so badly he couldn’t get up immediately.”

In falling several times but continuing to get up, Keevan exemplifies a strength that is not related to size but to courage, grit, and determination. The marring of his white tunic symbolizes the struggles he endured to make it to the Hatching Ground. This image is heightened in significance when he is surrounded by candidates whose tunics are pristine.

“The hard pace he had set for himself and his cruel disappointment took their double toll of Keevan. He tripped and collapsed sobbing to the warm sands.”

The hot sands have now turned warm as the pressure to become a dragonrider fizzles. Keevan falls, and this time he doesn’t get up. Instead, he sobs, despite having previously assured himself that dragonriders don’t cry. These details represent Keevan’s disappointment and perceived failure in this moment.

“He wasn’t even aware that he was ringed by the boys passed over, while thirty-one pairs of resentful eyes watched him Impress the dragon. The Weyrmen looked on, amused, and surprised at the draconic choice, which could not be forced. Could not be questioned. Could not be changed.”

Keevan was keenly aware of everyone’s thoughts and opinions of him throughout the story, but after he Impresses Heth, he doesn’t even notice the dozens of bitter glares that are directed to him. Heth’s choice, which can’t be disputed, proves Keevan worthy to everyone, including himself, eliminating his need to seek external approval.

“Why? asked the dragon again. Don’t you like me? His eyes whirled with anxiety, and his tone was so piteous that Keevan staggered forward and threw his arms around the dragon’s neck, stroking his eye ridges, patting the damp, soft hide, opening the fragile-looking wings to dry them, and wordlessly assuring the hatchling over and over again that he was the most perfect, most beautiful, most beloved dragon in the Weyr, in all the Weyrs of Pern.”

Bronze dragons are reputable due to their strength, ferocity, and size. Yet Heth is uncertain and anxious about Keevan’s judgments of him, mirroring Keevan’s own insecurities. The moment emphasizes his “soft hide” and “fragile-looking wings,” further adding to Heth’s delicate image and linking him to his chosen dragonrider.