The Character In The Most Enviable Position (but not our Favorite)

[elfundeb]

No: HPFGUIDX 35584

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "cindysphynx" <cindysphynx at h...> wrote:
> > I found this a hard question to answer, but I think I'll go with 
> Hermione.  She's in a pretty comfy situation, after all.  She has 
two 
> (loving?) parents, enough money so that it is not an issue, and a 
> great deal of ability and confidence.  I still get the sense that 
she 
> isn't all that popular among her peers, though.  But I'd say she 
has 
> the fewest number of problems of all the HP characters, has endured 
> the least hardship, and has the most potential to succeed post-
> Hogwarts.  
> 
> Funny thing, though.  She's not my favorite character.  Not by a 
long 
> shot.  But how could I honestly get away with saying that Lupin or 
> Black is in an enviable position?
> 
Ah, therein lies the rub.  How often is it that the person we really 
like best (in fiction or in life) is the person who has it all?  We 
may admire them but I suspect they're not the people we'd trust with 
our innermost fears.  I find in literature as in life that my 
favorite characters and people are those who, like Lupin, have 
strengths we admire as well as weaknesses that reaffirm their 
humanity -- and remind us of our imperfect selves.  Accordingly, I 
agree completely with your assessment of Hermione, especially as she 
appears in GoF, where we saw very little of her trademark weaknesses 
(fear of failure and consequent overwork, as well as a tendency to 
become immobile in crises such as the troll episode or the boggart 
final exam); instead we saw a much more confident Hermione who 
handled her problems with grace and determination.  The result?  She 
sank downward on my popularity chart, even though she is a 
wonderfully supportive friend to Harry.  I'm hoping that her 
weaknesses only took a temporary leave of absence and that she'll 
face some real crises in OoP, and not handle them as smoothly as she 
did Rita Skeeter.

Harry, on the other hand, who had a pitiful childhood and is haunted 
by the threat of LV, but has emerging spectacular magical ability, 
was in danger of turning into a superman superhero (the kiss of death 
in my popularity book), but admirably redeemed himself in GoF by 
acting on numerous occasions like a typical adolescent jerk.  (Three 
cheers for Harry the Date from Hell!)

Dumbledore is another obvious candidate for Most Enviable Character.  
He's in a position of great authority, is well respected, clearly has 
immense magical abilities that he seemingly uses only for good (or so 
McGonagall implies), as well as a delightfully odd sense of humor.  
If his hiring record weren''t so dreadful, and if he didn't let the 
Gryffindors get away with incessant rule-breaking, he'd be perfect. 
But he's not my favorite character either.  (That would be the all-to-
human Lupin; oh, 
I already said that. . .)

Debbie, fearing greatly that she has revealed the unimaginable fact 
that she not only has human weaknesses but in fact deliberately seeks 
out the company of other similarly situated humans

"They had their faults, and Mrs. Norris soon found them out."  (Jane 
Austen, Mansfield Park, Ch. III)