Unsung Heroes: Colin Creevey & Frank Longbottom

[daintydangerous]

An exciting and informative pasttime as a Harry Potter fan is to ruminate the details of characters and storylintes; to dissect the meaning behind author JK Rowling's story. Throughout the web are great multiple analyses of minor and supporting characters which challenge the importance of their small roles. For example, science fiction website Tor.

Comments

[pathology_doc]

The other parallel that ought to be drawn with Colin Creevey is with the youths who lied about their age in the First World War in order to join up and fight. Some of them were two years younger than Colin was when he died, and not a few were from the Eton- or Harrow-like boarding schools on which Hogwarts is based.

Longbottom came from a pure-blood lineage and easily could've wound up as a Death Eater

I've always thought one of Voldemort's weaknesses was his inability to comprehend why both Frank and Neville didn't. He seems as genre-blind in this respect as Emperor Palpatine, who - after all the time Luke Skywalker spent fighting against his military machine - still expected the younger Skywalker to come over to his side. Anakin was an easy mark because he never knew who the enemy was until it was too late, but Luke had always known and his refusal was something of a foregone conclusion.

[daintydangerous]

Thank you for your wonderful insights! I hadn't found that Frank had joined up at a younger age since we mostly know him as an adult. Voldemort is blind in many regards - I agree, especially to those he can't imagine would not join arms with him.

[fdsf]

Huh! Is it ever established what age the Longbottoms are? I'd always assumed they were older than Harry's parents.

[daintydangerous]

I don't think it was ever established what age they were. Harry Potter Wikia says that they were born around 1957, which is only a few years off from Lily Potter (1960). They're around the same age but the actors do look a bit older.
Thanks for commenting! :D