Character Relationship Map: Try Seventeen

Characters

• Jones (played by Elijah Wood) — protagonist

  Jones is a 17-year-old misfit and would-be writer who drops out of college on his first day and moves into an old apartment building. He becomes involved with his new neighbors, flirts with women, wri...

• Jane (played by Franka Potente) — supporting

  Jane is one of Jones's kooky new neighbors and a temperamental photographer. Her presence draws Jones into the complicated lives inside the apartment building, adding to the personal and romantic situ...

• Blanche (played by Elizabeth Perkins) — supporting

  Jones’s mother, who tells him the truth about his father after he confides that he never knew him. She explains that the man left when Jones was very young and never returned, correcting the romantic...

• Steve (played by Chris William Martin) — supporting

  A musician from Jane’s past who once seemed to offer her everything she wanted but ultimately hurt her. Jane says that being with him makes her feel free, even as she struggles with what he has done....

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Jones → Blanche (Family Mother And Son) — Blanche gives Jones the truth about his absent father, challenging the romantic stories he had believed.

  Jones confides that he never knew his father, and Blanche tells him that his father left when Jones was very young and never returned.

• Jane → Steve (Romantic Complicated Former Relationship) — Jane remains emotionally conflicted about Steve: she associates him with freedom but also with pain.

  Jones learns that Jane has a complicated past with Steve, a musician who once seemed to offer her everything she wanted but ultimately hurt her. Jane...

• Jones → Jane (Unrequited Romantic Interest) — Jones hopes their closeness will become romantic, while Jane sets a boundary and cautions him against expecting that outcome.

  Jones's feelings for Jane deepen, and during a nighttime drive he tells her he thinks she may be the most beautiful woman in the world. Jane tells him...

Story Analysis

A seventeen-year-old tries to navigate independence, family truth, and romantic feelings while forming a complicated bond with Jane.

Plot Progression

1. A Young Outsider Arrives — Jones arrives at college because of his grandfather's will and uses his inheritance to rent an apartment. Older students mock and threaten him as he tries to establish a new life.
2. Jane and the Awkward Kiss — Jones meets Jane during her acting rehearsal, and their closeness begins with an awkward request for a kiss. Jane learns his age, advises him not to rush into intimacy, and receives his apology.
3. Old Wounds and New Trust — Jane tells Jones about her conflicted history with Steve, while Jones listens and later visits her in the hospital after she is injured. Their conversation about letters leads Jones to disclose that h...
4. Truth and Unresolved Affection — Blanche tells Jones that his father left and never returned, replacing the stories Jones had believed. Jones's feelings for Jane deepen, but she warns that their closeness cannot become what he hopes;...