More on Ginny - very long.

Catherine Coleman catherine at cator-manor.demon.co.uk
Thu Jan 10 12:19:58 UTC 2002


No: HPFGUIDX 33128

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Penny & Bryce <pennylin at s...> wrote:

Penny wrote about Ginny...

I completely agree with
 > Cindy that Ginny is just very ...flat.  There's no substance IMO.  I 
too
 > couldn't possibly come up with a phrase or two describing who Ginny 
is.
 >   I've no idea who she is other than Ron's younger sister.
 >
 > <snip excellent analysis of how Ron doesn't seem to care much for 
Ginny>
 > Exactly.  They aren't particularly close from all appearances.  And, 
as
 > I've said before, for being only one year apart in age, they receive
 > drastically different characterization.    I assume there's a reason 
besides her
 > surname that she was sorted into Gryffindor, but darn if I can see 
what
 > it might be at this juncture.

I remember, way back when, when I first joined this group, getting into 
a spirited debate about this very topic.  Somebody (can't remember who) 
memorably said that Ginny was probably less use to the overall plot than 
Buckbeak, and she was variously described as immature, cowardly, 
whiny...I could go on.  Needless to say, I came out strongly in defence 
of Ginny then, and continue to do so now.

I don't find her a "flat" character at all.  I take the point that she 
seems very juvenile in the first Platform and 3/4 scene, but not merely 
just a young child - I see her as quite chirpy, confident and happy - 
not the shy, clumsy, withdrawn person we see in CoS.  I can forgive her 
wanting to go and see Harry - after all, it's just what everyone else 
wanted to do, but had the maturity not to admit to.  I also can see 
things from her perspective.  Until now, Ginny has always had another 
sibling at home with her.  She probably realises that at this time, she 
has quite a lonely year ahead of her, with no older brother to keep her 
company (I'm not going into all the stuff about home schooling/wizarding 
primary schools, as it's more conjecture and I can't use it here), and 
it is pretty clear to me that she knows that she is going to miss her 
brothers.  I also see the fact that she is desperately keen to get to 
Hogwarts as a sign that she wants to emerge from the shelter of Molly 
Weasley's apron strings.

Moving on to her relationship with Ron, I don't see how anyone could 
think that they aren't close.  Now, I'm using fairly thin examples here, 
but they do add up to a pretty clear picture of a reasonably good 
relationship between them.  I think that Ron is used to seeing Ginny in 
very different terms from what we have been allowed to see.  He is very 
surprised how shy and tongue-tired she has become when Harry first 
visits the Burrow.  I can't think of a passage when he doesn't treat her 
with affection, apart from when he tells her, quite rudely, to go away - 
and this wasn't because he didn't want her around (she seems often to 
sit with them in the common room, on the train etc.) but because Harry 
wanted to speak to him and Hermione in private.  He is absolutely 
devastated when she is taken into the Chamber (doesn't speak for hours 
as he is in shock) and is affectionate enough to want to hug her after 
her ordeal.  I admit, she has a very small role in PoA, (all I can 
really remember is her being outraged at the twins' callousness over how 
Crookshanks ate Scabbers - and that was outrage over Ron's hurt as much 
anything, I believe) but in GoF, she and Ron do seem to have a good 
relationship again - look at the fact that it is she who is comforting 
him when he has made a fool of himself with Fleur.  People often site 
the fact that they find it strange that Ginny doesn't hang around with 
the threesome more - that she isn't one of the gang.  I don't find this 
strange at all. How many teenagers do want to hang around with their 
younger siblings when they have their best friends with them?  Also, 
despite being a teenager, Ron isn't averse to giving her a friendly hug 
(example being in the photo taken in Egypt).

On the whole, I see more evidence for the fact that they have a friendly 
relationship, rather than the opposite.

On Ginny belonging in Gryffindor - I agree that there isn't much 
evidence of her bravery as yet.  The only scene I can think of is when 
she stands up for Harry in Flourish and Blotts, when Draco starts 
goading him about Lockhart and the publicity.  I thought that this was 
brave - not only because she was standing up to one of Harry's peers - 
probably appreciating the fact that he would be at Hogwarts, and not 
caring, and also, because it is the first time Harry actually hears her 
speak in front of him - her awe of him is temporarily forgotten or 
overcome because she needs to defend him.  I always think Bravo! when I 
read that scene.

However, although there aren't signs of specific bravery, I can easily 
defend Ginny's apparent cowardice.  She is seen as being tearful and 
whiny in CoS. I think this is understandable.  She has finally gone to 
Hogwarts, after looking forward to it for years and is having a pretty 
awful time. She thinks she is going mad, because of the periods of time 
she is losing when doing Tom Riddle's bidding, and is obviously 
suffering from paranoia because when Percy shows concern for her, she 
think that "he suspects me" - things are compounded when she realises 
that Harry has possession of the diary and that not only would he find 
out about her crush, and all her innermost thoughts generally, which in 
itself is pretty major (does anyone else remember what it is like to be 
pre-teen/teenager, and how important trivial things seem, compared to 
how they do now?), but she also thinks that Tom Riddle is going to 
reveal that it is she who has opened the Chamber.  She is naturally 
absolutely terrified, she has been manipulated all year by one of the 
most evil Wizards ever, who has probably subtly encouraged her paranoia 
and insecurities, and then she is taken to the Chamber itself and nearly 
dies.  On top of that, she thinks that she is going to be expelled, and 
that she is directly responsible for all those people being petrified. 
No wonder the poor girl is tearful!  I'm surprised she didn't have a 
full nervous breakdown!

Criticisms are made about Ginny "allowing" herself to be manipulated by 
Riddle, but there is a defence - firstly, she did try to break free from 
him when she threw the diary away, and secondly, Harry also trusted 
Riddle from his own experiences with the diary.  No one seems to 
criticise Harry for behaving in the same way as Ginny in this respect.

As an addendum to this, it has also been said in the past that another 
sign of weakness she shows is the effect the Dementors have on her on 
the train - she is white and shaking, IIRC.  Again, not surprising - she 
went through a hell of a lot in the previous year - and we know from 
Lupin that having a bad reaction to the Dementors is not a sign of 
weakness, but a sign that Bad Things have happened to you previously.

Finally, a few more words about GoF.  I am still of the opinion that by 
this time, Ginny is a more mature person, and this is shown effectively 
during the Yule Ball saga.  She knows who Hermione's date is and won't 
tell, she doesn't let Neville down in order to go with Harry, she 
comforts Ron, but isn't averse to giving him a telling off (like 
Hermione).  I know that the only basis Hermione and Ginny have for a 
friendship is the fact that they have been thrown together (i.e. sharing 
rooms at the Burrow, etc.) but I think that there is friendship 
developing there - after all, Ginny seems more in Hermione's confidence 
than Parvati and Lavender, and at times, Harry and Ron.

All in all, I think that JKR has revealed enough facets of Ginny's 
character to make me interested in her.  There hasn't been a huge 
amount, I know, but I think that the potential is there for her to be 
developed in the way I think she is being drawn at the moment.

So, I'll be rejoining Kimberly in the Ginny lovers corner.  (Anyone 
thought of a suitable acronym yet...!)

Catherine


"It's a book for obsessives.  It's a book for the kind of people who 
enjoy every little tiny detail about a world, because I have every 
little tiny detail about the world."
JKR.






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