In Defense of Ginny-some SHIP ( was Re: Re: SHIP: H/H, H/R or other?)

[Lilac]

No: HPFGUIDX 44733


Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2002 17:23:16 -0700 (PDT)
From: Moonstruck <myphilosophy2001 at yahoo.com>


Subject: Re: Re: SHIP: H/H, H/R or other?


Jessica:
<lengthy snip>

Ginny Weasley is a serious thorn in my side. She’s the
wild card. Right now, she’s merely a caricature and
that makes me extremely suspicious. 

Me:

I described her as the "Ace" up JKR’s sleeve the other day, but the "Wild Card" seems to fit a little better because we just don’t know what will happen. Lot’s of interesting card imagery here, though...

I’ve always been suspicious of why she played such a big role in COS, and then disappeared into the background again. When I read the series the first time, I kept looking for more development about Ginny from books 3 and 4, but to no avail. 


Jessica:

As a Weasley, Ginny is simply too important to the plot to remain
underdeveloped. Besides, how many characters in the HP
series can you truly call underdeveloped? I think OoP
will make or break her as a potential partner for
Harry –– and Rowling has said Ginny be playing a bigger
role. Perhaps I’’m a pessimist, but my overwhelming
sense with Ginny is that, as the series, progresses
and we discover more about Lily Potter (another
development JKR has said will begin in OoP –– and I
fear that’’s not a coincidence), we’’re going to
increasingly find that she’’s a modern day embodiment
of Harry’’s mother. There are really only two thoughts
that lead me in that direction right now and they’’re
debatable:
•• Ginny is a shortened version of the name ""Virginia.""
I believe this is significant because the name ""Ginny""
is not particularly common and it’’s close enough to
the name ""Jenny"" that there must be a specific reasonshe chose that variation of the name. ""Virginia"" means
""chaste, virginal."" The flower ""lily"" is a symbol of
innocence, purity and beauty. It seems to me chastity,
virginity, innocence, and purity all represent the
same ideals.
•• Ginny has red hair –– a weak case for hardcore
comparison, but show me another female anywhere near
Harry’’s age who has red hair. 


Me:

I’ve wondered myself if there would be a parallel between Lily and Ginny by JKR. We had Harry’s dad’s story in POA, and we’re told by JKR that we will learn more about Lily in a future book, and Ginny will play a bigger role in book 5. 

Jessica:

I have to say for Ginny and Harry what I said for Ron
and Hermione –– JKR is fond of establishing parallels
between characters. It makes sense then that the
romantic developments in Harry, Ron, and Hermione (but
particularly Harry and Ron) lives will mirror those of
their parents’’. We all ready know Harry is the
spitting image of his father in both appearance and
behavior. It wouldn’’t be a huge stretch to believe
Ginny will closely resemble Lily, making Harry and
Ginny the obvious match for one another. 

But JKR is going to have to REALLY go a long way to
convince me that Ginny Weasley is either (a) a feisty,
smart heroine type, or (b) Harry’’s ideal gal. 

Me:

Well, if her mother is any indication, Ginny may very well already be a feisty, fiery red-head just by being raised by one. We’ve never seen her temper to know this, however. Also, Ron tells us that she never shuts up (COS, 40), another indication that she may be a bit more feisty than Harry perceives her to be, as Ron knows what she’s really like at home. She stands up to Malfoy to defend Harry at Flourish and Blotts (COS, 61), which is pretty feisty for someone who can’t even look Harry in the face. Smart? Do we know anything about her grades? Nope. Any talents? No, we’re not told. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have any. I think she might understand parselmouth, having been possessed by Riddle to open up the chamber and summon the basalisk. Of course, this is my personal assumption based on the same concept of bits of Voldy staying with Harry from the infamous AK. Heroine type? IMO, she has a life-debt to Harry that may come into play. She’s survived a terrible ordeal from the COS, but we don’t know if she’s chosen to learn and grow stronger from this experience so she isn’t used as the Dark Lord’s pawn again (as I suspect may be the case). If anything, she’s pretty heroic to survive living with F & G, let alone 5 other males in that crazy Weasley household!:-)

As for Harry's "Ideal"...time will tell with that as well. What is his ideal? I’m sure there are as many opinions to this question as there are readers. Does Harry even know his ideal? We just need more input regarding Ginny! Keep your word, Jo! 

Jesica;

Ginny’s just been too much giggly and blushing in the first
four books to impress me much. In fact, she embodies
all the stereotypical traits of femininity that I find
highly irritating –– and of which Hermione represents
an antithesis. Ginny’’s entire identity is woven around
her schoolgirl crush on Harry. The only book in which
she plays any importance, CoS, centers on how her
seemingly all-consuming infatuation of Harry nearly
topples the balance of the universe and leaves her in
need of rescuing. Please. Does she do *anything* but
sit around pining for Harry?"



Me:

"Seemingly" is the operative word in that sentence, since the story is from Harry’s POV and we have our own perceptions/interpretations of what we’ve read. We can’t assume that’s all she does because she’s just not in books 3 and 4 very much to prove that. Her few appearances since COS includes the singing get-well-card she gave to Harry in POA, and blushing when first seeing Harry at the Burrow in GOF. So, I understand why you think that’s all she does. That’s all JKR lets us see in what few scenes written about Ginny since COS. But what does she do when Harry’s not around? Do we know? No! So, we can’t assume that’s all she does. Is that L.O.O.N.y enough for ya?

A little aside here...I have a theory that it was Gred and Forge who sent that Valentine to Harry as a joke. I mean, come on..."His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad..."? A girl thinking romantically about a boy is not going to compare his eyes to something gross you’d find in a bottle on Snape’s potion shelves. I think the twins did it because they knew of her crush, and...just because they’re Fred and George. " "Yeah, she’ll be wanting your autograph, Harry", Fred said with a big grin." (COS 35). Brothers can be so cruel.

Perhaps I don’t find her irritating because I remember an 11-14 year old me who had crushes and blushed incessantly. But I grew out of it, and there is evidence she is growing out of this as well.

In fact, I see little hints that Ginny is maturing throughout the series. In COS, she just squealed and closed the door when she first saw Harry ( 40). In GOF pg. 54, she blushed but didn’t look away when Harry smiled at her and Hermione at the Burrow. Now, it's a far cry from putting your elbow in the butter dish (COS, 44) to being in the same room talking about Percy and Pigwidgeon with the trio, and not blushing (GOF 55-58). Hey, it’s not much, but it is progress! That’s all JKR has given us to go on. We don't know how all-consuming this crush was for sure, only heresy from Tom and Harry's own perception in his POV. Tom does say that she talked about things other than her crush, like how her brothers tease her and how everything she has is secondhand (COS 309). 


Jessica (I think quoting this article on this website):

http://www.cgjungpage.org/articles/grynbaumpotter.html

"Ginny, thus far, is the helpless, hopeless princess
who, in her emotional ignorance, wreaks total havoc on
herself and then waits for her prince to come and
rescue her. Is that *really* what we want for Harry?
Methinks not. However, the importance of her and her
feelings for Harry in one of Harry’’s big battles with
Voldemort/Tom Riddle causes me pause. Perhaps it is an
indication of the centrality those emotions will play
if future books."

Me:

This quote kind of makes it sound like it was Ginny’s plan all along to be saved to snag Harry. We need to remember who really did the havoc wreaking here. Ginny was duped by Tom Riddle. He used *her*. The only thing she is "guilty" of here is confiding in a diary. "I suppose the real reason Ginny Weasley's like this (near death on the Chamber floor) is because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger." (Tom Riddle, COS 309) It is Tom who twists her deepest hopes and fears to his advantage by being charming and just listening to her. It was he who used her soul to come out of the diary, and that’s why she needed saving, being near-death and all. She had been used up and couldn't very well do it on her own. Helpless and hopeless? After what Tom had done to her, yes, she seems pretty helpless and hopeless. Does she wreak the havoc upon herself? Uh, no, that would be Tom. She did try to dispose of the diary after she stopped trusting it, remember? She tried to help herself. One thing we need to remember was that she was ONLY 11 YEARS OLD! How strong were you at 11? We’re told that she fought till the end... "(Tom) made her write her own farewell (my thoughts...Imperio, perhaps?)....She struggled and cried....But there wasn't much life left in her...she had put too much into the diary, into (Tom)" (COS 313). Emotional ignorance? Yes, of course, because, SHE IS ONLY 11 YEARS OLD! Dumbledore tells everyone, "Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort." (COS 330) Let’s give the girl the chance to grow up before we decide she’s always going to be like a stereotypical 11 year old! We give the same courtesy to Neville, expecting him to come-out of whatever is holding him back. Why not Ginny? 


Jessica:

It’’s very possible JKR is throwing us all curve balls,
as she’’s been known to do in the past, but it still
seems to me she’’s leaning toward a Harry/Ginny,
Ron/Hermione situation.

Here’’s my hunch:
Rowling has long said she based Hermione on herself.
She’’s also said she named her hero Harry because it’’s
her favorite male name. In fact, she goes so far to
say that if she’’d had a son, she would have named him
Harry. My instinct is that JKR thinks of Harry as a
son –– after all, she did, in a creative sense, give
birth to him. So if JKR identifies with Hermione, it
would be unnatural from her perspective to pair Harry
with Hermione. I think that’’s why Hermione takes on a
protective companion/mothering role with Harry.
Hermione acts as JKR in giving guidance and support to
Harry. Or maybe I’’m reading too much into things.

Me:

That’s the way I’ve seen Hermione with Harry, as a mother to him. Or, like a big sister, kind of like Meg looking after and feeling very protective of her extra-special and talented younger brother, Charles Wallace, from the Madeline L’Engle books.


Jessica:
Anyway, there’’s tons more I’’d like to write, but this
is becoming rather depressing and it’’s beginning to
resemble a doctoral thesis. -Jessica

Me:

You’ve brought up some good points. I understand we have many highly intelligent females on this list who relate completely with Hermione, and so it makes sense why Ginny is an irritation. But, what if you were judged for the rest of your life by how you were at 11, or how you were perceived to be by others? Isn’t Dumbledore a firm believer in second chances (i.e. Snape)? I know I grew out of my 11-year-old Ginny-ness, became over-the-top Hermione-ish in high school and college, and have settled into a nice balance between the two characters now. 

I just want to sum it up by saying that I’m keeping an open mind concerning ships and character development, especially in underdeveloped characters such as Ginny. To borrow a phrase from Tolkien, my heart tells me that Ginny has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end. Because, as we know all too well, anything is possible in the Potterverse. 

Lilac (who feels like a protective big sister to Ginny)





 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Tut, tut --- hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is *lilac*. 

I say so in Year with the Yeti."         --Gilderoy Lockhart, COS



---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo!

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]