OotP: Ginny Weasley (was: first impressions & female characters)

[donna_immaculata]

No: HPFGUIDX 64191

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "ugadawg02" <ugadawg02 at y...> wrote:
>  
> > Another female character I always liked is Ginny Weasley, in whom I 
> felt great potential, which is now finally displayed. There is one 
> thing that really annoys me about the HP universe: the lack of female 
> characters with a sense of humour. Ginny is the only one who actually 
> laughs at the - sometimes silly or childish, but basically *funny* - 
> jokes and antics of her brothers. Hermione only says things 
> like: "oh, be serious, Ron", and "this is no laughing matter", or 
> just hmphs indignantly. And don't even get me started on Molly 
> Weasley!
> > 
> > Ginny has the ability not to take things seriously. She also has 
> the ability to downright lie to her mother (a craft none of her 
> brothers seemed to have mastered) and to do her own thing without 
> even attempting to justify her actions, if she thinks that's 
> unneccessary. I love her!
> > 
> > Seeing as this post is getting much too long, let me add only this:
> > Has anyone else thought that Kingsley Shacklebolt is just wickedly 
> cool? I want more of him!
> > 
> > Donna Immaculata
> 
> I think that part of the reason the female characters are not as much 
> given a sense of humor is, to me anyway, they seem to be more the 
> strength the male characters will occasional fall back upon. Even 
> Dumbledore puts trust in the strength of McGonagall to basically keep 
> the school running whenever he is not there, just Ron and Harry put 
> trust in the strength of Hermonie to always be there for them when 
> they charge in blindly to situtations, and Mr. Weasley puts faith in 
> his wife to basically keep the family humming as he loses himself in 
> plugs and other Muggle objects. That at least is my take, the female 
> characters are in many ways the hidden strength of their family and 
> friends. 
> 
> I agree too we hopefully will see more of Kingsley Shacklebolt in 
> books 6 and 7.

Yes, I realise that the female characters are used to back up the male characters. BUT: Ginny is a strong character, too! You know, what I really like about Ginny (apart from her sense of humour) is that she is so self-confident, or self-assured in a quiet way. (This is what I like about Lupin, too, BTW) Unlike Harry, who isn't able to hide anything he feels or to master his temper, Ginny is so very much in control of herself. We learn about so many things she's done without anyone noticing! She is able to hex her brothers, she is an excellent Quidditch player, because she learned flying in secret - and it's hard to hide things from Molly Weasley - and although she's younger than Harry and Ron, she's got more dating experience her brother doesn't even know about. (I bet, Molly doesn't know, either.)She lies unblushingly to her mother!

The point I'm trying to make is that Ginny simply does things she wants to do, without trying to justify her motives and actions. She knows what she wants, knows how to achieve it, and knows that, sometimes, it's better to not tell everyone. And this is a great talent.

I think the reason for this is that Ginny, the youngest child, the only girl, always had to fight to be allowed things. Her parents were overprotective, her brothers didn't let her in on their games, so she had to develop her own strategy. Therefore, she realised how much more convenient it is to keep a low profile and to - and I'm being repetitive here - simply *do* things, without asking for permission, and without justifying herself.

And in addition, Ginny is the only other student known to us so far, who's got first-hand experience with Voldemort. I really admired the quiet (again) manner in which she reminded Harry that she's been possessed by Voldemort once and that he could have talked to her about this particular experience. 

Yes, I think Ginny has great potential. And I think - or hope, rather, because you never know with JKR - that she will play an even greater part in future (alongside Kingsley Shacklebolt, who's *got* to be back!)

Donna Immaculata