Harry Potter : conversation with my daughter about bullying. My favourite Harry Potter characters
I am still listening to Harry Potter, although I have almost stopped in the book 5 “Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix” to wait for my daughter to finish her reading. “The Order of Phoenix” is my least favourite book and the least favourite film: too long, nothing happens, etc..
My daughter and I were talking the other day about the theme of bullying in Harry Potter series. I like how constant the author is in showing all aspects of bullying in schools and at home. The only niggle I have is the reveal of James Potter being a bully in the past but “growing out of it”. I always feel disappointed here. I want to know how a person “grows out of bullying”, in as much detail as possible because as far as I am concerned, I have never seen a person to grow out of it and I want to know how James Potter managed to. Otherwise I always feel cheated: the author had been very realistic and disapproving with her descriptions of bullies, until the saintly father of saintly Harry Potter came along. It seems that it is not fine for Dudley to bully Harry and Dudley never grows out of it, but it is perfectly fine for James Potter to bully Snape. It is just “youthful indiscretions”.
Also I "have to" mention my favourite characters:
My two main favourites are Sirius Black and Severus Snape, in both cases my preferences are most likely formed by the actors that play them. Both Alan Rickman and Gary Oldman are beyond fabulous. I don’t really find Snape attractive (but I do find Black VERY attractive, in a hippy-like way) , I just think Snape is the most complex and interesting character in the series.
Other favourites:
- I love Dumbledore, although I only found my love for him in the later books, where his character becomes more complex.
- Out of the young uns, I adore Ron. Just because Ron is RON. And I adore Hermione in the books, but less so in the films.
- My love for Weasley Twins and all Weasleys knows no bounds
- Ginny is lovely, and during the last re-read I noticed how the author started the setting up for Harry/Ginny romance very early in the series. I don’t understand where the popularity of Harry/Hermione ship is coming from. If anything, there is more chemistry between Hermione and Draco Malfoy than between Hermione and Harry!
- Out of all evil characters, my favourite (as everyone else's) is Bellatrix Lestrange. Even my daughter thinks she is a fantastic character.
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But the saintly Harry Potter and his saintly father are not my cup of tea at all. If there is anything I do dislike in any fiction it is a character that is so "great" that no rules, or laws apply. There are so many of Harry’s "lucky escapes" in the books that it feels like cheating. My probably very unpopular opinion is that I would have really preferred Harry to die at the end of the series. In my opinion, this would have raised the value of the series and made the ending much stronger. as it stands, Harry's last sacrifice loses any value!
My daughter and I were talking the other day about the theme of bullying in Harry Potter series. I like how constant the author is in showing all aspects of bullying in schools and at home. The only niggle I have is the reveal of James Potter being a bully in the past but “growing out of it”. I always feel disappointed here. I want to know how a person “grows out of bullying”, in as much detail as possible because as far as I am concerned, I have never seen a person to grow out of it and I want to know how James Potter managed to. Otherwise I always feel cheated: the author had been very realistic and disapproving with her descriptions of bullies, until the saintly father of saintly Harry Potter came along. It seems that it is not fine for Dudley to bully Harry and Dudley never grows out of it, but it is perfectly fine for James Potter to bully Snape. It is just “youthful indiscretions”.
Also I "have to" mention my favourite characters:
My two main favourites are Sirius Black and Severus Snape, in both cases my preferences are most likely formed by the actors that play them. Both Alan Rickman and Gary Oldman are beyond fabulous. I don’t really find Snape attractive (but I do find Black VERY attractive, in a hippy-like way) , I just think Snape is the most complex and interesting character in the series.
Other favourites:
- I love Dumbledore, although I only found my love for him in the later books, where his character becomes more complex.
- Out of the young uns, I adore Ron. Just because Ron is RON. And I adore Hermione in the books, but less so in the films.
- My love for Weasley Twins and all Weasleys knows no bounds
- Ginny is lovely, and during the last re-read I noticed how the author started the setting up for Harry/Ginny romance very early in the series. I don’t understand where the popularity of Harry/Hermione ship is coming from. If anything, there is more chemistry between Hermione and Draco Malfoy than between Hermione and Harry!
- Out of all evil characters, my favourite (as everyone else's) is Bellatrix Lestrange. Even my daughter thinks she is a fantastic character.
--------------------------------------
But the saintly Harry Potter and his saintly father are not my cup of tea at all. If there is anything I do dislike in any fiction it is a character that is so "great" that no rules, or laws apply. There are so many of Harry’s "lucky escapes" in the books that it feels like cheating. My probably very unpopular opinion is that I would have really preferred Harry to die at the end of the series. In my opinion, this would have raised the value of the series and made the ending much stronger. as it stands, Harry's last sacrifice loses any value!