[HPforGrownups] Re: Fave Characters

[Horst or Rebecca J. Bohner]

No: HPFGUIDX 19301

My favorite adult characters are Snape and Mad-Eye Moody, and my favorite of
the Trio is Ron.  One might think, based on that, that I'm drawn to fierce,
sarcastic, bad-tempered men:  but in fact I'm not.

What appeals to me about Snape is not his nastiness, but his vulnerability.
The touching way in which he defers to Dumbledore as he does to no one else,
and seems almost anxious for his approval and understanding:  you can see
there's a lot of history there, and that Snape knows he owes Dumbledore such
an enormous debt for giving him a second chance that he can't even begin to
repay him.  Also, his courage.  Snape is not afraid to take risks and to put
himself on the line for what he believes in.  When he pulled up his sleeve
and showed Fudge the Dark Mark, caring nothing for his reputation or what
might happen to him personally, I was smitten.  I came to the conclusion
that there is a LOT more to Snape -- in a positive way -- that we haven't
seen yet, and that JKR has been hinting at this all along:  which to me
makes him the most intriguing character of all.

I love Mad-Eye (yes, I know we haven't seen the REAL Mad-Eye yet, but
Crouch's impersonation must have been near-perfect or somebody would have
called him on it) because he's passionate -- even fanatical -- about the
truth, he's made huge sacrifices for what he believes in, and he doesn't
care if people think he's crazy.  But there's also a sort of rough
tenderness to him, a kindness underneath the tough exterior.  He reminds me
of a big, scarred polar bear.  Dangerous, but cuddly.

I love Ron because his dry sense of humour just kills me -- he always seems
to know how to sum up a situation in one phrase.  He's hot-headed and
thin-skinned, but if you've got him on your side, you can count on him to
defend and support you with everything he's got.  (That whole scene where
Ron tries to punish Draco for insulting Hermione and winds up belching slugs
just sums up Ron's character perfectly, I think.)  He's also touchingly
vulnerable:  he wants so much to be liked and accepted, to prove that he's a
person in his own right and not Just Another Weasley Kid.  I can understand
that, and I don't think it proves or even suggests that Ron will turn out
badly.  He's just going through a rough time, like a lot of us do, trying to
figure out who he is and where he fits in.  And when your best friend is
Harry Potter, The Boy Who Is Destined To Be In The Spotlight, that's pretty
tough sometimes.

All of which is not to say I don't love the other characters, particularly
Harry and Hermione, because I do.  But these are the three that stand out in
my mind.
--
Rebecca J. Bohner
rebeccaj at pobox.com
http://home.golden.net/~rebeccaj