Character Development
prep0strus
prep0strus at yahoo.com
Fri Nov 16 18:10:10 UTC 2007
No: HPFGUIDX 179142
--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "potioncat" <willsonkmom at ...> wrote:
>
> Theo Nott, Florence, Agnes...just a few of JKR's many named but unknown
> characters. There are so many who spend some time with Harry or near
> Harry, then move on. JKR told us a little about Theo, and something of
> Dean Thomas's father. Did that information peak your curiosity? Did
> something in canon make you think a character was going to play a role
> later, but the character did not? For example, did knowing (or not
> knowing) about Dean's father affect how you felt during his scenes?
>
> How did canon or interviews color your impressions of characters? Did
> anyone surprise you, speak to you, grab your imagination? What do you
> think about the way JKR wrote characters? Did she "play fair"?
Prep0strus:
I certainly enjoy when characters are introduced subtly, but over time
are revealed to be something more. So I would say that I definitely
was disappointed not to have a little bit more of that in the
characters you mentioned. JKR's world is so broad and diverse that I
would have loved for it to go in the direction of all these characters
having important parts to play, rather than focusing on our three main
characters in a tent (especially when I didn't even see very much
personal growth in those characters).
I've mentioned recently how I expected more of Scrimgeour... I also
thought we'd definitely find out more about Zabini or Nott, if not both.
I was very disappointed in how all the members of the DA faded away to
nothing - I really would have liked to find out more about all of
them. Especially our other Gryffindors who we've watched participate
in class for several years but do little else. It isn't even Dean
that gets to me - it's Seamus. Maybe because we got Dean's story
outside of canon, so I put it out of my head, or maybe it's because we
see him a little more in the run in DH. But I feel we don't know
Seamus at all - and he's the only male Gryffindor in Harry's year
that's like that. Dean pops up a lot more than Seamus - I guess
because JKR has more in her mind for him. But Hogwarts is a small
place. I know Harry has his two best friends, but I'd imagine after
that he'd spend the most down time (did he ever have down time?) with
his bunkmates.
The point you bring up also works in the reverse - I've never been
able to warm to Luna for precisely the reason that she wasn't brought
in slowly. Some people think she's this awesome character, and I
can't even look at her that way - she always seems like a shoehorned
johnny-come-lately to me. I mean, you can see the clues to Ginny
being Harry's eventual girl in the very first book. And Cho being his
first relationship was hinted at books before that happened as well.
JKR has the ability to drop subtle hints about characters that will
matter later on. But Luna just showed up, all ready to be a major
secondary character.
I'm sure part of my love of Lee (besides his sense of humor) is
because he's a small character who had a place in the story that
slowly grew and became more important. Kreacher showed up relatively
late, but in a small way that grew into something more, which I really
enjoyed. For me, I guess it's not precisely when they show up - but
how quickly they go from being a mention to being a full-blown main
character. The quicker it is, the less satisfying it is for me.
(Barring the first book, of course.)
I think, in general, I'm on the side of wishing I had seen more of
every minor character - and because of that, I'm less of a fan of
every more major character that simply showed up later in the series.
Sure, a new professor shows up every book, so I get that and can't
fault JKR for it. Still, I'd rather spend some time with McGonnegal
or Flitwick than Slughorn who couldn't be bothered to show his face
until book 6.
So when that encyclopedia comes out, I'll be devouring the nuggets on
every minor DA member and DE member, and probably ignoring the long
sections on our main characters.
~Adam (Prep0strus)
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