SHIP: JKR Interview (what she said and what she didn't say) and some Ginny

[Penny Linsenmayer]

No: HPFGUIDX 52085

Hi --

Thanks for providing the transcription, Angua.  It's not located in the Goatpen or the Lexicon in transcribed form, and doesn't appear in a google search either. 

In any case, I stand by my position.  It was clearly a narrowly-worded question submitted in all likelihood by a child focused on the "next book," and her answer is equally narrowly worded, IMHO.  Especially when one considers the opportunities she's had *since* Oct 1999 to nix the H/H ship and/or bolster the H/G ship.  She's failed to take those chances, even when presented with a perfectly worded question to accomplish the purpose.  

 --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "pippin_999 <foxmoth at q...>" > 
<in response to my comments about Ginny's lack of relevance in 
the previous books>:
> So no background character of little importance who disappears 
> from the narrative after Christmas can have an major role in 
> future books? Scabbers the rat's  last appearance in 
> CoS  is on page 211 of the US hardcover --it's Christmas 
> morning, and Hermione shifts Scabbers aside so she can sit on 
> Ron's bed. He disappears 2/3 of the way through the book. A 
> stylistic weakness? Or do you think JKR wanted the readers to 
> forget about him, so they wouldn't be paying much attention to 
> Ron's rat troubles in PoA. 

Marina: <<<<Second of all: yes, I definitely think JKR wanted the readers to forget about Scabbers, and to attach no importance to him.  His true 
identity was sprung on us all in one shot, as a huge, plot-turning 
revelation.  That's a terrific way to unmask a villain.  It's a 
*horrible* way to introduce a love interest.  <snip>  A 
central love interest needs a personality, and a history of 
meaningful interaction with the hero.  Ginny has neither of those 
yet, and JKR has bypassed numerous opportunities to provide them.  
So based on what we've seen of her so far, I'd say Ginny stands a 
better chance of being revealed as the villain of a future book than 
as a love interest.>>>>>>>>

Marina beat me to the punch, but said it much more artfully than I might have!  :--)  

Yes.  The hero's love interest should be someone the reader knows and cares about, someone who is built up in a meaningful way over the course of the story.  Who fits that bill?  Hermione.  As Jim Ferer noted recently, no other character, even Harry, has changed as deeply and as fully as Hermione.  You see Angua, I don't see Hermione as bossy and argumentative any longer.  She still has those tendencies, but it appears to me that she is actively attempting to rein herself in and grow more.  So, that could be another issue of interpretation and how the shippers see such different things in the same books -- I'm not looking at the same Hermione that you see obviously.  

In any case, JKR has bypassed one opportunity after another to set the stage for H/G as an eventuality.  I agree with Marina that it's certainly possible that this could change, but are we still going to still be having this "well, Rowling could change all that" after Book 6, while we're waiting on the final book?  My guess is yes.  Because I think if she were clearly heading down that path, it would be clear from Ginny's development as a character and interactions with the Trio.  And, it's just not there.  

Penny

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