[HPforGrownups] Re: SHIP: Harry and Hermione

[Justine74 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 92342

<<In a message dated 3/6/2004 1:45:49 AM Central Standard Time, 
lhuntley at fandm.edu <<writes:
<<As for Ginny and Harry -- don't even get me started.  Something about 
<<Ginny -- I just can't stand the girl ... Anyway, more recently 
<<I've been less . . . er, irrationally rageful towards the girl, but I 
<<still feel she's badly developed, fangirlish, possibly evil, etc.
I reply:

Since, for whatever irrational reason <g>, I've suddenly decided to delurk 
and tell this list that I have problems with Ginny's character, I just had to 
reply to this bit of your post. As I just responded to Hickengruendler, I agree 
that there are some character development problems with her (the GOF Ginny to 
OOTP was just out of left field to me).   In addition, Ginny's fangirl ways in 
the earlier books definitely made me hope that JKR would put Harry with 
someone else.

However, it's your mention of Ginny as being "potentially evil" that I find 
the most interesting.  I haven't been involved with HP discussion long enough 
to know if this is a widely-held view or not, and I don't know if I think she's 
actually evil, but I do know that when I was reading OOTP that there were a 
few points where I wondered if she still had some residual effects from her 
time when Tom Riddle and she were basically sharing a life-force.  The one 
example that springs to mind is something very little, but it stuck with me for some 
reason.  It was when they were all at Grimmauld Place around the time the 
kids were trying to listen in on the Order meeting, and JKR describes Ginny as 
either "cooly lying" to her mother, or "lying without batting an eye" ... 
something like that.  (It's too late to go searching the book <g>).  I just found it 
interesting that JKR took the time to point out that Ginny lies very easily, 
especially in light of the fact that, though H/H/R have often lied, they often 
show some guilt, whether it be a blink or being flustered or whatever.  This 
is not always the case with them when they lie, but it has happened enough to 
show that H/H/R are not "born liars" or anything even close.  I'm not trying 
to say that JKR is trying to say that Ginny is a "born liar" either.  She may 
just be showing Ginny to have the capability to be cool and calm.  But then 
again, she didn't need to show Ginny lying to show that.  I don't know what it 
all means, but I do think Ginny's final characterization may still be up for 
grabs.

DJ


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