looks determining character

[Sherry]

No: HPFGUIDX 139673

Sherry wrote:
  
> Isn't the young Tom riddle described as handsome?  Didn't he have > a way of charming everyone around him, except for Dumbledore?  I 
> remember that, because I felt kind of squeamish at the 
> descriptions of his charm and good looks.  

Amontillada responds:

I believe that young Tom was described as very handsome--taking after
his father, the charmer. There's been no reference to his using his
looks to seduce people physically, but he might very well have used
his appearance as part of the overall image he deliberately presented
in his youthful days, when he was searching for potential
allies/tools. But Dumbledore wasn't taken in by looks, any more than
he was of other external projected images.
 
Hickengruendler wrote:
 
> the Dursleys, who in their features are complete 
> caricatures, are horrid,

Amontillada:

The Dursleys are an outstanding example of characters who are
portrayed as Harry sees them--and in some of the worst examples of
their mistreatment of him, to boot.

Hickengruendler wrote:
 
> the background Slytherins and Death Eaters 
> all resemble trolls (might be because they are all inbred, like 
> the Gaunts), Sirius' mother is a remarkably old and ugly witch

Amontillada:

Her family, being proudly "pure blood" as it is or was, was probably
also heavily inbred.

Hickengruendler wrote:

> On the other hand, both Molly and 
> Neville, who seem to be a bit on the chubby side, are always 
> described very carefully. It are only the bad characters, like 
> Draco or Pansy, who call them "fat", and they are nonetheless 
> pretty normal looking, in contrast to many villains.

Amontillada:

This reflects the fact, which others have already posted, that we tend
to use the word "fat" mostly for people we dislike, while applying
other adjectives to people we like. I don't think of Harry calling
Neville "fat", but I can imagine Draco calling Crabbe or Goyle "fat,"
showing the contempt he feels for them.
 
Sherry wrote:
 
> I know there's been talk about Ginny being beautiful, but is she?  
> I don't even remember that at all.  

Hickengruendler wrote:

> Seeing that about every character called her beautiful, I think 
> it's fair game to say that she is.

Amontillada:

It may also reflect the extent of change to her appearance as she's
grown from a little girl into a young woman.

Amontillada