Johnny Tremain

Cilla Lapham is Johnny’s sharp-tongued, loyal, and courageous love interest. She first meets Johnny when they are 11 years old. At the time, she is “a skinny little thing, with a gentle face and disturbing tongue. [....] Pretty and shabby, and sweet and sour” (202). Cilla is 16 at the end of the novel “[a]nd so pretty [Johnny] could not believe it” (202). The protagonist’s surprise at Cilla’s increasing beauty is part of a broader pattern in which he takes her for granted and overlooks the ways she’s changing. Of course, Cilla is happy to remind him to check his ego. During his days with the Lapham family, she constantly peppers him with verbal barbs “not only about how smart he was, but how smart he thought he was” (6).

Although Cilla’s words can cut, her criticism is constructive; she cares enough about Johnny to point out his flaws because she knows that he can be better. She remains invested in Johnny’s growth and well-being even after her family decides that they are no longer a match. When Johnny is accused of stealing the silver cup from Mr. Lyte, the boy realizes his fate “all depends on Cilla” (91). In defiance of her mother’s wishes, she testifies at Johnny’s trial. Cilla’s testimony strongly influences the judge’s decision and thus saves Johnny’s life. The steadfast Cilla stays committed to Johnny even when other young men, including Rab, express interest in her.

As the protagonist’s love interest, Cilla is in a unique position to challenge Johnny to grow. At the start of the novel, she uses humor to poke at his overinflated ego. Although she never abandons hope that they will one day wed, she stands up for herself when he mistreats her. For example, she stops waiting for him in the square after he breaks his promise to meet her there. This experience prompts Johnny to realize that Cilla is one of “the best friends he had ever had” and that he loves her (140). As a result, he reevaluates his priorities and the way he treats others. In addition, their relationship adds to the suspense of the novel’s ending. Cilla and Johnny still wish to marry one another, but it’s unclear if they’ll survive the war. Cilla promotes the protagonist’s growth and enhances the novel’s suspense.

The self-contained, resourceful, and inspiring Rab Silsbee is one of the novel’s most important supporting characters. When Johnny first sees the 16-year-old, he notes his “dark face, indolent dark eyes,” “unruffled, unhurried” movements, tall height, and powerful build (52). Rab’s usually nonchalant manner belies his formidability in a fight and makes the moments when he springs into action all the more striking. Even though Rab speaks with Johnny only twice before the younger boy’s arrest, Rab leverages his quick wits and his connections to help Johnny gain his freedom. For example, he uses the letter from the governor to fool Mrs. Lapham so Cilla can testify at Johnny’s trial. In addition, Rab inspires the people around him: “He had a way of lighting people up, showing them at their best” (162).

Johnny admires Rab’s commitment to the truth and his willingness to sacrifice himself for the cause of liberty. Ultimately, Rab’s death after the Battle of Lexington inspires Johnny to join the fight for independence. Although Rab is an excellent listener and quick to help others, he gives away little about himself. He courts Cilla for months without saying anything to Johnny. Indeed, during Johnny’s final conversation with Rab, Johnny reaches the melancholy realization that even after a year and a half as his best friend, “he had never really known him—not known him inside out” (293). Nonetheless, Johnny knows what makes Rab who he is—his resourcefulness, his private nature, and his capacity to inspire others.

As Johnny’s ally and foil, Rab makes important contributions to the protagonist’s character development and the theme of Self-Sacrifice for the Greater Good. Their very first conversation boosts Johnny’s hopes. Rab “was the first person to whom Johnny Tremain had confided his own story,” and this experience helps him to regain a sense of control over his life (56). He offers Johnny friendship, a new job, and a surrogate family when the protagonist’s old life crumbles around him. The two characters are foils in both their appearances and temperaments. Johnny is fair-haired, light-eyed, impulsive, and quick to insult others.

On the contrary, few things bother the dark-haired, dark-eyed Rab’s nonchalant nature, and he is an adept listener whose very presence makes people feel hopeful and encouraged. Johnny undergoes a great deal of learning and growth due to his friend’s influence. He learns to hold his tongue, and he also engages in political activism. For example, Rab recruits Johnny for the Boston Tea Party. In addition, Rab’s character arc illustrates the theme of Self-Sacrifice for the Greater Good. His death gives the resolution weight and puts a face to those who gave their lives for the cause of freedom.

The lonely, underhanded, and oblivious Dove is another important supporting character due to his role in the protagonist’s development. The first chapter introduces Dove as a “fat, pale, almost white-haired boy still wallowing in bed” (2). Johnny looks down on him because of his lethargy and his inferior smithing skills. The narrator’s descriptions of Dove reflect Johnny’s disdain and his creative insults for the older boy: “Whatever a ‘pig-of-a-louse’ was, it did describe the whitish, flaccid, parasitic Dove” (4). Despite these recriminating early depictions, Dove is more of a pitiful figure than a malicious one. Even his truncated name provides evidence of his loneliness; he is so devoid of relatives and friends that “his first name had long ago been forgotten” (3).

From the beginning of the story, Johnny knows that he could easily befriend the lonely Dove, who both admires and resents the younger boy, but Johnny “preferred to bully him” (4). Rather than directly challenging Johnny’s tyrannical behavior, Dove resorts to underhanded tactics and pranks Johnny by giving him a cracked crucible. The oblivious Dove never imagines that his dangerous practical joke could cause lasting harm. Although Dove cries when he confesses his misdeed to Mr. Lapham, he doesn’t learn anything from this experience. Dove’s appearance during the Boston Tea Party shows that he is still sneaky. He boards the British ship so he can steal tea and resell it for a profit, not because he wants to protest on behalf of the colonists’ rights.

Although Dove drifts from place to place and job to job, he remains static throughout the novel. His unchanging nature makes Johnny’s growth even clearer. For example, Johnny’s realization that he no longer harbors hatred or a desire for revenge against Dove marks an important benchmark in the protagonist’s growth. The fact that Johnny befriends his former foe is strong evidence for his increasing humility and empathy. Additionally, Dove helps to advance the plot. The ill-fated prank completely changes the course of Johnny’s life and sets him on the path to joining the fight for American independence. After he becomes the horse boy of a British colonel, Dove helps the plot along by inadvertently providing sensitive military information to Johnny on multiple occasions. For example, Johnny learns that the British plan to attack Lexington and Concord through his conversations with Dove. Although he is only a minor character, Dove has a major impact on Johnny’s narrative.