Luna doesn't wear silk, and replies to other Luna threads

[annemehr]

No: HPFGUIDX 84333

This will have to be a bit quick, since I'm getting ready to go away
with a bunch of Girl Scouts for 24 hours...
dan wrote:

> Annemehr's post, a very nice one, I must say, while alluding to the 
> alchemy interpretations of Luna's role, doesn't stop there, which is 
> good. But I wonder how effective her processing of her ostracism 
> really is? Or, rather, I should say, if there's any profit in it, for 
> herself? This would be my concern, with a RW person like Lovegood. 
> Then again, what would be the cost of piercing the shell, if it could 
> be done? The thing is, even thinkers like Annemehr can be taken in 
> wholly by Luna's appearance. As much as I love her, there is 
> something definitely wrong. If Luna is our passage to Potter, what 
> does that say about us?

Thanks for the kind words!  Now, on to Luna...

It seems to me we are reading her a bit differently, so maybe this
discussion can bring a few new things to light.  My impression of her
was that she did indeed have some ability to cope.  That impression
was reinforced by what she told Harry: that the lost things always
come back in the end*, and that we will see our dead again someday.  I
imagined that at least part of the reason for her stability was the
love of her family: thus she does have somewhere to "belong" and her
ostracism is not complete.  She also has advantages Harry missed in
that she had her mother for nine years and then had two years to come
to terms with her death before going to Hogwarts.

To be sure, ostracism must take its toll.  Perhaps her coping
mechanism could not have held out forever.  However, I think she's
just found new reenforcements -- membership in the DA and a friend in
Harry.  I'll even note that, when pairing up in DA lessons, Luna was
not the one left without a partner; that was Neville.

Something is definitely wrong with Luna?  I wouldn't be surprised --
something is definitely wrong with all of us, and with Rowling's other
characters also.  Perhaps my post overemphasised her strengths and
their complement to Harry's weaknesses, and you do seem to have more
of an idea of her weaknesses than I do.  Still, as things are wrong
with me too, I see no obstacle to relating to Harry through her;
though come to think of it, I am much more like Harry as far as
weaknesses go and so find her strengths that much more attractive.

I'm afraid that's the best I can do for now, but I didn't want to lose
the thread.  I'm looking forward to reading your ideas.

Annemehr

*It occurs to me in typing this that it could turn up as a general
theme somehow, not literally though, of course...