Is Luna Lovegood the anti-Hermione?

[antoshachekhonte]

No: HPFGUIDX 113527

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "cubfanbudwoman" <susiequsie23 at s...> 
wrote:
> Pat wrote:
> > > I love Luna's character.  She does seem to fill in the missing 
> > > pieces of personality that Hermione lacks.  
> <snip> 
> > > But I do think she will be the person who gives Harry permission, 
> > > so to speak, to open up about his grief as well as his anger.  
> > > Hermione is very perceptive--as we saw with her explanation to 
> > > the boys about what girls are thinking and feeling.  But when 
> > > Harry has a problem, she's ready to jump in and fix it.  Luna 
> > > seems more likely to just let him talk, with a few comments to 
> > > let him know that she understands--such as their conversation at 
> > > the end about ghosts and about the voices behind the veil.  Right 
> > > now, Harry needs a good listener, and I think that is going to be 
> > > Luna.
> 
> Paul: 
> > I agree 100% that Luna is the exact opposite of Hermione. She is 
> > aloof and certainly a non-rational person. I can't see her as the 
> > catalyst of Harry's redemption. Yes she was unwillingly helpful at 
> > the end of OOTP, by creating feelings of pity from Harry to her. 
> > But she was only a deus ex machina in order to de-escalate the 
> > tension of the main character and the readers and give an 
> > optimistic note for the future. Instead Hermione is virtually 
> > living inside Harry's mind, heart and soul. 
> 
> 
> SSSusan:
> I don't even want to touch the issue of Harry's "redemption," but I 
> would like to talk about Luna's role.  As much as Luna annoyed the 
> heck out of me [too much Hermione in me, I suppose], I wonder about 
> something Lexicon_Steve said recently about her [and darn it, I can't 
> find the post--thanks *so* much, YahooMort].  In the post, he was 
> suggesting that Luna was the only one at the end of OotP who could 
> provide any REAL solace or comfort to Harry BECAUSE she has such a 
> strong belief in the afterlife.  It was when she said, "It's not as 
> though I'll never see Mum again, is it?" and then talked about the 
> voices beyond the veil, that Harry seemed to settle down a little and 
> really be able to consider what might be.  I think that ranks her as 
> more than just a deus ex machina.
> 
> I'm not arguing that she'll become more important to Harry than 
> Hermione is, but I do think Pat may be right about the way in which 
> Luna could be helpful to Harry.
> 
> Siriusly Snapey Susan

Antosha:

I don't want to get overly allegorical--these books are wonderful in large part because the 
DON'T fall into the CS Lewis trap of having Character A symbolize Virtue X while Character 
B symbolizes Vice Y. Nonetheless, I think that the expansion of the trio in the last part of 
OotP was clearly meant to open up a larger spectrum of options to Harry (not to mention a 
more interesting set of possibilities for shippers--but that's another post). And I think it's 
clear that Luna and the other new additions to the core group add new attributes that 
balance the original trio's strengths and weaknesses interestingly.

Neville has continued to grow as a character in our eyes, not so much because his 
ineptitude has lessened, but because we are becoming more and more aware of his true 
courage. He is, if you will, Harry's shadow--the person Harry is always afraid he really is, 
that Dudley and his parents always told Harry he was: clumsy, awkward, stupid. But look 
what's happening! Neville is actually every bit the hero. 

Ginny starts out, similarly, as the Ron that Ron would hate to be--lost, emotional, 
dependent. But she has continued to grow as well--no longer simply a girl in reaction to 
her own emotion, but someone with every bit as much courage as any of her brothers, a 
sense of humor to match the twins, and the spirit to challenge Harry directly--something 
even Ron doesn't do. (When he's angry with Harry in GoF, what does he do? Sulk. Hang out 
with Gred and Forge and Dean and Seamus. Not that Harry does much better.)

Luna, then, is clearly Hermione's mirror. I think Hermione's rationalism, which is such an 
important part of the trio's dynamic, has it's downside: an unwillingness to leap before 
looking; a fear of the unknown. We've watched Hermione freeze up in just about every 
book because her studies haven't provided her with the answer. Usually Ron and Harry 
have to pull/
prod/jolly Hermione past these crises ("Are you a witch or aren't you!"). Freud and Jung 
would say that the thing you're afraid of is the thing you buried, the thing you secretly 
want to do. But now we have Luna who is Hermione's physical photo-negative (blonde 
fluffy hair instead of brown), who is, like Hermione, brainy, if in an entirely different way, 
and who EMBODIES all of the things Hermione most lacks: intuition and faith. Not big-F 
Faith, because, thankfully, we haven't gotten a straight sermon in the books yet, and if we 
do I'll scream. But little-f faith in the possibility of the world operating on laws that 
transcend the limits of mere physics, chemistry and biology. (This is, after all, a universe 
where magic works.)  I think that Luna's 'fuzziness' gets under Hermione's skin precisely 
because it is so SCARY to her. But I think it is part of the support that Harry needs in order 
to stay sane while facing the horrors of the mysteries that he must face in the years to 
come. And I betcha knowing Luna forces Hermione to grow to. Besides, how fun, someone 
else for Hermione to bicker with. And possibly to fight over Ron with. Whooopee!

I'm a rationalist, myself, and love Hermione for her logic and her intellect--and her loyalty. 
But I think it is wonderful that JKR has inserted Luna, and with her a door to all of those 
unanswerable mysteries the DoM has been struggling with. It allows JKR to touch on issues 
like death 
and love and time and responsibility on a larger scale than merely life-within-the-plot 
without resorting to a religious or even secular creed that would lessen, rather than 
increase, the books' impact, since whatever belief she espouses would be at odds with that 
of 90% or more of her readers.

Antosha, who has an abiding faith in the power of literature