Neville: Memory, History, Legacy, Power (LONG!) (Was:: Still Life)

[abigailnus]

No: HPFGUIDX 38422

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Laura Huntley" <huntleyl at m...> wrote:

> Abigail:
> >And I think it's a foregone conclusion that, whatever makes Neville so 
> >forgetful, we will eventually see a reversal in his situation.
> 
> Why?  Why can't it just be part of him?  I mean, I'm not saying it *won't* happen, just that I don't see why it *has* to happen...
> 
> Some people are just naturally forgetful.  What if it's just a facet of Neville's personality??  It's like all of us around here sitting around waiting for Hermione to realize she really *isn't* the intellectual type and start skipping classes...honestly, I wouldn't hold your breath.
> 
> laura

Because this isn't real life, this is literature, and there is such a thing
 as literary convention.  In the same way that it would be wrong for 
Dumbledore to snatch the House Cup from the Slytherins in front of 
the whole school if he were to do it in the real world, but in the book 
it's the only dramatically satisfying thing for him to do.  There's just 
no way that a character who for 4 books has been described as weak, 
frightened and bullied and who is on the side of good will not , at the 
end of the series, learn to face his fears and find inner strengh.  It's 
just impossible from a dramatic standpoint, the way you know that 
it has to be Luke who blows up the Deathstar, or that there's no way 
Sirius will be cleared and Harry will move in with him at the end of PoA.

And once again, I'm not talking about Neville kicking Malfoy's ass from 
here to next Tuesday.  As someone who was once weak, frightened 
and bullied herself, what I expect and hope for Neville is to gain the 
kind of maturity that allows him to look at the people deriding him and 
say "Why would I give a damn what those idiots think of me?" and go 
his own way no matter what they say.  I want Neville to truly believe 
that he's worth ten Draco Malfoys, because I think he is.  You're right 
when you say that it isn't necessarily realistic for a weak person to 
transform into a strong one - I will never be the center of attention no 
matter what I do,  but I've accepted that, and I hope that I've learned 
to stand up for myself nonetheless.  I hope Neville does too.

And by the way, several people have expressed the fear that Neville 
will become another Harry.  Once again, this just can't happen from a 
dramatic standpoint because there already is a Harry.  In a work of 
fiction it is the task of all the secondary characters to highlight and 
explain the main character, either by representing a certain trait of his 
or by acting as an opposite to him.  It makes no sense for Neville to 
become a hero because the hero already exists, and if Neville were to 
become a Harry clone he would be useless in explaining Harry to us.  
So I really don't have any fears about Neville losing his unique kindness 
and gentleness.

No takers for my Neville-as-future-Lupin theory, I see?  Too bad, 
I thought it was a cool idea.

Abigail