Ginny's Role in Book 7 (was: Re: Four ponderings)

[Miles]

No: HPFGUIDX 144819

> Betsy Hp:
> Exactly!  That's where JKR really fell down, I think.  I once did a
> reread of the series (up to OotP) just to look at how Ginny was
> handled, and the character consitancy is just not there.  Not like
> it is with Neville or Draco (two other second string characters).
> Or at least, I think JKR started out well, but OotP Ginny was a bit
> of a jar.  And HBP Ginny comes out of almost nowhere, IMO.
>
> [All page numbers reference scholastic editions.  PS and CoS are
> paperback, PoA and GoF are hardback.]

<snipped great work of reconsidering Ginny's character in the entire series>

Miles:
Maybe some more talented (or diligent) listies could do the actual work (did
I mention that I like to have ideas, but not to work them out?), but don't
you forget about the major limitation of the entire series - the narrative
perspective?
I think you are right, we see several astounding jumps in her character
development, especially in books 4 to 6. But - we see her through Harry's
eyes. In book 4 he begins to see the difference between girls and boys.
According to this, Ginny is totally out of his mind (she is just another
Weasley), but Cho is not. In OoP, Ginny is more important, but Harry is
still not aware of her as a girl. And in HBP - ok, she is *very* present.
So, the details you found that may characterize her - are they reliable? The
character development seems to be inaccurate due to a lack of interest on
Harry's side. Especially in HBP most of the information about Ginny comes
from Hermione - Harry seems to be surprised by nearly everything that she
can tell him. More precisely: he only then gets the necessary background
information to understand Ginny's behaviour.
Neville is more important for Harry than Ginny is - until HBP. So, it is not
too surprising that we see him better or more consistently characterised.

Ok, maybe I'm wrong, it could really be JKR who is not very intently with
Ginny. But it could be just Harry.

Miles