Ron and Hermione in Deathly Hallows

[npod4291]

No: HPFGUIDX 174151

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Maeg <chaomath at ...> wrote:
>
>
> > As I said, I'll give you Cho, but I never bought Harry's
feelings for
> Ginny. I found the concept of Harry protecting Ginny by not
> displaying his affection very sad and moving, but it was only the
> *concept*. I never really felt that JKR convinced me that Harry
> truly valued her as a person and as a romantic entanglement. I was
> just told that, and it seemed somewhat trite. Bah.


Interestingly, I found almost the exact opposite.  To show that
Harry really cared for Ginny, I look at the very end of the Ch 34 in
DH, "The Forest Again" (Don't have book with me, so I don't know
page number, only know its that chapter because JK has said multiple
times that it was the hardest chapter for her to write in all the
books.)

Right before Voldemort curses Harry, it's said that he is thinking
Ginny, not Ron, Hermione, Sirius, or even his parents.  I think that
speaks volumes as to how much he actually cared about her.  If not
that, the multiple times through DH in which Harry looks at her on
the Marauder's Map, hoping that she will somehow now that he is
thinking about her.  IMO, it couldn't be more clearly shown how much
he cares for her.

>
>For a series that hounds on the idea that
> "love is the savior" and whose narrative arc is about growing up,
> this seems to be a large flaw.
>

I think that you are misunderstanding the whole "love is a savior"
part of the story (or at least the way that I understood it, I
certainly do not claim to be exactly, absolutely correct).  I do not
believe that Harry's greatest strength being his ability to love
means romantic love.  I think it means his ability to create
incredibly loving friendships with large number of people in
comparison to Voldemort, who cannot love at all, being it friends,
family, or romantic interests.  The difference is this.  Harry
loves, and is loved, but a multitude of people, all of whom are
willing to die for him.  Likewise, because of his love for them, he
is unwilling to let that happen because he loves them, hence how is
able to let himself be killed to save them.  Voldemort has people
willing to die for him, but not because love, because the fear what
he would to do them if they didn't put their lives on the line.

Nate, just my 2 knuts