Identifying with the characters

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 7992


>I could never identify with Ginny though, Ron's insecurity is one thing, 
>and
>to that I sometimes relate, but to Ginny's would be very difficult...

I don't particularly relate to Ginny but I don't think she's that insecure.  
She doesn't appear to be shy except where Harry is concerned.  Ron observes 
that the first time Harry meets her (at the Burrow in 2) and it's true, 
around her family she is talkative and assertive.  I like the common room 
scene in 4 where the boys are struggling with their dateless state for what 
it tells us about her--she is no shrinking violet when it comes to her 
brothers or when she's inflamed about something.  As with many of us, being 
around someone she has a crush on brings out another side of her personality 
(look at the seldom-tongue-tied Harry when he tries to talk to Cho . . . ).

Really, what's striking is how most of the characters take meeting HARRY 
POTTER in stride, albeit with an irresistable glance at his forehead.  
Meeting in the flesh a boy who has legendary status in your world, about 
whom (if you're Ginny's age) you've heard bedtime stories, for heaven's sake 
. . . sharing a train compartment with HP for the first time must've been 
like being in an elevator with Robert Redford, Abraham Lincoln, and Jesus 
all at once (sorry for the U.S. slant).

I think I relate to Harry not because I think I'm like him or can imagine a 
life as a hero, orphan, teenage boy, etc.--i.e. not for all the reasons that 
I DO relate to Hermione, namely I was really like her in many ways (hope 
I've outgrown some of them).  But we get inside his head more than anyone 
else's so he is real to me in many small ways.  Esp. starting in PoA when 
things get dark . . . when we start seeing aspects of his personality that 
are harder to accept (though easy to understand), e.g. his bitterness and 
wish for revenge against SB.

Amy Z.
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