Ginny's best friend (Was: Pansy Parkinson (Was: House characteristics))

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 150864

> >>Jen D.:
> What I see as mature is that each is what they are to the other.
> <snip> 
> But as I mentioned earlier, they seem to have boundaries that 
> work for their friendship. Hermione doesn't butt in on Ginny's 
> friends her age, her year. And sometimes Ginny hangs with HRH.    
> That seems pretty even-handed. And best yet, they seem happy as   
> they are written. We can argue that JKR wrote Ginny as a handy    
> plot device, but I don't see it that way. I guess your "diffrent   
> strokes" remark must suffice...

Betsy Hp:
I totally agree with your assesment of Hermione's and Ginny's 
relationship.  That's exactly how I see it playing out. Sometimes 
they hang, sometimes they don't.  And they both seem quite happy 
with the arrangement.  And that's good.

But, what I take issue with (and I don't think this is an issue you 
raised, actually), is that they're a wonderful example of two girls 
who are best friends.  They're two girls who are *friends*, yes.  
And it's a good relationship as it is.  But it pushes things to try 
and claim that Hermione sees Ginny as her best friend (or vice 
versa).

It comes down to paragons, I think.  This whole thread got started 
(IIRC) with the idea that JKR had raised Hermione to become this 
paragon of girlhood in her fat rant.  And for me, she just isn't.  
There's a lot that's good about Hermione, but she ain't perfect.  
Not for me, anyway.  And one of her weaknessess, I thought, was her 
sort of contempt for groups of giggling girls.  (Probably because 
she suspects them of not being properly serious about things.  
Hermione gets on Ron, and sometimes Harry, for the same thing.)  

But it was a contempt JKR seemed (and it is dangerous to guess about 
these things, I know) to share.  Because there are no positive 
depictions of female *best friends* in the book.  Hermione and 
Ginny's friendship does not rise to that level.  They are friends, 
not best friends.  And they do not constitue a paragon of female 
friendship.  Not to me.  (On the flip side, I think Harry and Ron 
are a great example of best friends, and while not perfect, come 
much closer being a paragon.)

In the end it's got nothing to do with either Hermione's or Ginny's 
well-roundedness as characters.  It has to do with how their 
relationship is written.  And it's not written as two best 
girlfriends, IMO.

Betsy Hp, who's afraid she's being either terribly confusing or 
terribly picky or both