Percy versus Neville (was : Re: Ron is like Percy ) (long...)

[sophierom]

No: HPFGUIDX 89279

Del wrote:
<some snippage>
<When I read about how the twins treat their siblings, I have bad,
painful memories coming up. Memories of people who pretended to love
me, but who kept saying hurtful things to me, or who kept undermining
everything I did (like the twins undermined Percy's and Ron's jobs as
Prefects).But I don't see that Percy is taking himself really too 
seriously.> <snip>

Sophierom:

I've really found this discussion of the Weasley brothers to be 
extremely interesting. As I've started to reread the books, this 
discussion has been in my mind.

So, just a few minutes ago, when I was reading through part of GOF, 
I began to think a bit about the way Percy handles teasing versus 
the way Neville handles it. Granted, it's not a great analogy 
because Neville isn't a part of the Weasley family, but he's a kid 
who doesn't have much self esteem, is often teased, and has had some 
really hard knocks in his life.  

In chapter twenty one (The House-Elf Liberation Front), the twins 
give Neville a canary custard cream. Poor Neville turns into a 
canary.  Here's the scene:
--
Just then, Neville caused a slight diversion by turning into a large 
canary.

"Oh - sorry, Neville!" Fred shouted over all the laughter.  "I 
forgot - it *was* the custard creams we hexted -"

Within a minute, however, Neville had molted, and once his feathers 
had fallen off, he reappeared looking entirely normal.  He even 
joined in laughing. 

(US ed., 367)
--
Given our previous discussions, particularly Del's insights about 
teasing, I read this scene in a very different light. I think the 
first time I read it, I probably laughed at the image of Neville as 
a canary. But this time, I thought,  poor Neville! His parents have 
been tortured, he's always the butt of the joke, and now he's a 
canary.

But, I was also struck by Neville's laugh. I don't think this makes 
Fred and George's thoughtless, attention-getting antics any better; 
but I certainly love Neville all the more for the way he's handled 
the situation.  If Percy had been able to laugh at his own 
embarrassing situations, even just once, I'd like Percy a bit more, 
too. 

And I think this is exactly what JKR intends for me to feel.  
Whatever we may think about Percy and his future role in the series, 
JKR has written him in such a way that, for the most part, we - like 
Harry - are easily annoyed by him.  Sure, we can analyze the scenes, 
applying family dynamics and psychology to them, but probably, most 
of us, upon first reading the Percy scenes, have the urge to roll 
our eyes.

In many ways, it seems to me that Percy should have the self 
confidence to laugh at himself a bit more.  Unlike Neville, he did 
grow up with parents who have praised him (we see Neville's Gran 
berating him for his forgetfulness, etc.); also unlike Neville, he's 
been recognized as a great student (Percy was prefect then headboy, 
and probably the top of his class in every course; Neville is the 
laughing stock of Snape's potion class, probably mediocre in most of 
his other classes, only doing well in Herbology).

But, Percy can't laugh.  I think this must have something to do with 
the fact that Fred and George are his own brothers ... that Percy 
needs their approval more than he would a peer's.  But if I could 
somehow use a time turner and speak to Percy when he was a bit 
younger, I would have begged him to try laughing, just once, when 
the twins poked fun at him.  Not only would he have been stronger 
for it, but the twins proabably would have stopped picking on him 
because they wouldn't have gotten the reaction they wanted.

So, Percy may be a "victim" when it comes to Fred and George, but he 
can't (or won't) use his embarrassing, sometimes painful, 
experiences to make him a stronger person.  Neville also needs to 
learn how to turn himself from a victim to a survivor (particularly 
in Snape's class), but I think he's got the right idea when he 
laughs at himself in genuinely silly situations like the canary 
scene.  

Given that this comparison is based on one tiny scene from GOF - and 
a scene that only applies to Neville, not Percy - I'm sure this not 
the strongest comparison in the world.  But I thought I'd offer it 
up, nonetheless.  At the very least, it could raise the question of 
why JKR wants us to like certain characters over others ... and I 
really do believe that in the end, she wants us to admire Neville (a 
butt of many jokes) more than Percy (also the butt of jokes).  

Sophierom