Favorite Characters

[rj_anderson]

From another old HP4GU post of mine:

My favorite adult characters are Snape and Mad-Eye Moody, and my favorite of the Trio is Ron. One might think, based on that, that I'm drawn to fierce, sarcastic, bad-tempered men: but in fact I'm not...

What appeals to me about Snape is not his nastiness, but his vulnerability. The touching way in which he defers to Dumbledore as he does to no one else, and seems almost anxious for his approval and understanding: you can see there's a lot of history there, and that Snape knows he owes Dumbledore such an enormous debt for giving him a second chance that he can't even begin to repay him. Also, his courage. Snape is not afraid to take risks and to put himself on the line for what he believes in. When he pulled up his sleeve and showed Fudge the Dark Mark, caring nothing for his reputation or what might happen to him personally, I was smitten. I came to the conclusion that there is a LOT more to Snape -- in a positive way -- that we haven't seen yet, and that JKR has been hinting at this all along: which to me makes him the most intriguing character of all.

I love Mad-Eye (yes, I know we haven't seen the REAL Mad-Eye yet, but Crouch's impersonation must have been near-perfect or somebody would have called him on it) because he's passionate -- even fanatical -- about the truth, he's made huge sacrifices for what he believes in, and he doesn't care if people think he's crazy. But there's also a sort of rough tenderness to him, a kindness underneath the tough exterior. He reminds me of a big, scarred polar bear. Dangerous, but cuddly.

I love Ron because his dry sense of humour just kills me -- he always seems to know how to sum up a situation in one phrase. He's hot-headed and thin-skinned, but if you've got him on your side, you can count on him to defend and support you with everything he's got. (That whole scene where Ron tries to punish Draco for insulting Hermione and winds up belching slugs just sums up Ron's character perfectly, I think.) He's also touchingly vulnerable: he wants so much to be liked and accepted, to prove that he's a person in his own right and not Just Another Weasley Kid. I can understand that, and I don't think it proves or even suggests that Ron will turn out badly. He's just going through a rough time, like a lot of us do, trying to figure out who he is and where he fits in. And when your best friend is Harry Potter, The Boy Who Is Destined To Be In The Spotlight, that's pretty tough sometimes.

All of which is not to say I don't love the other characters, particularly Harry and Hermione, because I do. But these are the three that stand out in my mind.

When I started looking back at older posts like this one, I expected to cringe with shame over how foolish and immature I was back then and how poorly I expressed myself. Well, I did end up being embarrassed, but for quite the opposite reason -- reading some of those messages, I'm struck by how well-read and articulate and bubbling with ideas I was back then, and it makes me feel horribly dull and ignorant these days by comparison.

Kids. I blame the kids. You lose brain cells in pregnancy, you know, and they never come back. Um. Yeah. That's the ticket...

Comments

Mad-Eye Moody

[(Anonymous)]

"But there's also a sort of rough tenderness to him, a kindness underneath the tough exterior. He reminds me of a big, scarred polar bear. Dangerous, but cuddly."

Funny, but when you summed up Mad-Eye this way I had a flashback to Pullman's Golden Compass and thought of the armoured bears, the Panserbjornen (sp?), which I thought were one of the most interesting features of the book. Even though I'm not planning to read any more Pullman (for reasons it would take too long to go into here) I'm still glad I read that one, just for those wonderful bears. *grin*
Mary Anne

Re: Mad-Eye Moody

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

I always thought that if Mad-Eye were an Animagus he'd be a polar bear. You're right about Iorek Byrnisson... and yes, the panserbjorn were a very cool concept.

You don't need to explain why you're not planning to read any more Pullman, though, because I expect your reasons are very likely the same as mine. Any time I think of Pullman's trilogy I am reminded of what C.S. Lewis said about J.B.S. Haldane's writing -- "Brilliant, though to my mind depraved."

I've read a few other Pullman books and they affected me in much the same way. But His Dark Materials is certainly the most blatant. It doesn't shake my faith to read Pullman's slanders -- especially since some of them are so tragically uninformed -- but why would I want to read a whole trilogy constructed around the idea that Someone I love and to whom I owe an infinite debt of gratitude is actually evil and hateful and ought to be killed?

Re: Pullman

[bookaholicgirl.livejournal.com]

I read the first two, then skimmed the third one. Didn't really care for any of them, and have had an abominable time explaining to other people why, since apparently "I find them morally objectionable" isn't looked on with much favor, even by other Christians at times.

And I now feel the need to use that Lewis quote somewhere in the next week. Thank you.

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

He reminds me of a big, scarred polar bear. Dangerous, but cuddly.

Now I want a Moody bear to go with my Snape bear...

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Someone needs a cafe press store...

A Snape bear?!

[(Anonymous)]

Pictures! We need pictures! 8-D
Mary Anne