Thoughts On A Few Characters (both individual and generic)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 69483

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "D.G." 
<dgwhiteis at h...> wrote:
> 1.  Giants
> 
> It had always been my impression that giants were a relatively 
> intelligent and civilized species, even if somewhat warrior-like 
> and "primtive" (by Wizard standards) in the way they structured 
their  society.  Early on in OoP, this seems to be validated -- they 
have  chieftans who demand obeisance, they definitely have a 
strictly- established social order.  And, remember, they can be 
charming/sexy  enough that humans occasionally develop 
crushes on them and have  affairs (and/or marriages) with them.
> 
> Then along comes Grawp --a drooling, barely-articulate brute 
who  seems all too much like King Kong in chains.  Is THIS the 
kind of  thing that Hagrid's mother (and, unless I'm 
mis-remembering  something, Olympe's mother as well) 
actually MARRIED!?  Ewww!!!!!  
> Continuity problem here for JKR -- or am I missing something?
>

We don't know which side of the family Olympe's giant blood 
came from.  Hagrid did ask  her though, so perhaps it's 
significant. We haven't met any of the females yet. For all we 
know, Giants could be dimorphic, like peafowl, or maybe more 
like black widow spiders. <g> Possibly the females are quite 
attractive, or can make themselves appear so. Giants must have 
some magic in them, or why would the WW need to hide them 
from Muggles?

I'm glad *somebody* else has noticed that Giants are a sentient 
species. JKR is up to her usual tricks here. Grawp is not another 
one of Hagrid's misguided experiments in anthropomorphism. 
Grawp wears clothes, can feed and clean up after himself (he, 
unlike Hedwig, is not  found sitting in his own waste) and  is 
capable of learning a foreign language, which would seem to 
make him more intelligent than Fudge on the evidence.

Hagrid did *not* ask HRH to "take care of" Grawp. He asked 
them to "look after" him. Hagrid explained he only meant 
continue teaching him  English, if, and only if, Hagrid 
was driven away from Hogwarts. It may have been dreadfully 
misguided of Hagrid to bring Grawp to Hogwarts, on a par with 
Hermione's efforts to free House Elves against their will, but 
once there, I don't think it was out of line for Hagrid to make 
provision for him. And really, who does Hagrid know, aside from 
Dumbledore, who's more capable of dealing with a Giant than 
Harry?

There's a deliberate parallel being set up with Harry's reluctant 
agreement to help civilize Grawp and Petunia's reluctant 
willingness to take in Harry. "Grudgingly, furiously, unwillingly, 
bitterly," indeed. I wonder where JKR is going to go with it?

Pippin