SHIP: Why Harry and Hermione aren't Frodo and Sam

[pippin_999 <foxmoth@qnet.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 50250

I think some Shippers see in H/H a potential superbeing: Harry's 
power and courage united with Hermione's passion and 
intellect. I can understand the appeal of the concept: it's like 
Frodo and Samantha as Jim said. But for me, one of the things 
that makes Rowling so appealing is that her characters are so 
much more individually complete than Tolkien's. Indeed I can 
tolerate Sam's servility only because I see him as  part of Frodo, 
or vice versa. 

In a like way H/H could symbolize the merging of different parts 
of a single psyche. But real life pairings don't work like that,IMO. 
While your partner's qualities may complement your own, you 
can't really absorb them.

 If I think of Harry and Hermione as truly separate individuals, 
portraits of human beings rather than personifications of human 
characteristics, I don't think they're suited.  That doesn't mean I 
can't imagine them being happy together.  Barring abuse or 
incompatible goals, I think most couples can manage to be 
happy together if they set their minds to it,  but I don't think it 
would be their greatest bliss.

I think H/H would be a very high maintenance relationship, and I 
think that if  Hermione has other goals to pursue in life, she 
might not be willing to give it the time and effort it would need to 
work.

I don't think Harry could ever be comfortable with Hermione's 
passionate side. That's not who he is, and he could never have 
survived the Dursleys without that cool detachment he maintains 
most of the time. He admires her drive, but he doesn't 
understand it, and I think he would find it very wearing if he had to 
live with it all the time. 

Ron, on the other hand, admires assertive, passionate women. I 
take Jim's point on the visceral appeal of Fleur and Rosmerta, 
but unless we're prepared to maintain that *all* the voluptuous 
women in the Potterverse happen to be assertive as well, I think 
we should give Ron's  viscera some credit for selectivity. Ron 
may think it's voluptuousness that's getting his attention, but the 
fact is, assertive women strike him as dead sexy. 

I think something similar is happening with  Hermione. She 
probably thinks it's famous, powerful wizards that attract her, but 
really, I think it's the passion to help others. I think this might
lead 
to conflict with Harry once there are no longer any age 
restrictions governing Harry's use of his power. 

If she were in his place, Hermione would be mastering every 
spell she could think of, while Harry only learns the ones he 
thinks he'll need. (Voldemort's strategy in forcing Harry into the 
tournament was *really* counterproductive--Harry wouldn't know 
half the magic he does now if he hadn't been forced to learn it for 
the Cup.)

 I don't think Hermione will ever understand Harry's wariness of 
the power that is in him. If Harry tried to explain his fears about 
his connection with Voldemort, she'd just say, "Oh, rubbish!" 
Hermione tends to be very dismissive of anything she can't 
understand. I think we'll see her overcome the dismissiveness, 
but I don't think she'll ever really have the acceptance of 
mysticism that Harry does.

 In all her adventures with Harry, she's never encountered the 
most mystical Potterverse creatures. The phoenix and the 
unicorn remain outside her experience--we don't even see her 
with the baby ones in Hagrid's class. This is an area where Ron 
might be able to contribute something to Harry's support that she 
can't--once he gets over his fear.

Pippin