I recently read something about how Harry's best friends, Ron and Hermione, were providing him the parents he never had. Traits such as Ron being the trouble maker along with Harry and Hermione being the level-headed voice of reason led people to begin to form ties to this behavior and the behavior exhibited my Harry's father and mother, respectively. These traits began to solidify themselves over the course of tjhe series, where Hermione began to adapt to Ron and Harry's trouble making endeavors, as well as Ron andHermione seemingly developing feelings for one another. As seen when Harry examined Snape's memories in the pensieve, James was the trouble maker while Lily was the head of reason, telling him to stop torturing Snape. While this combination of ego and kindness may not make sense to the reader, somehow, they grow to fall in love with one another.
Now, during the fourth year, Hermione begins to express her feelings for Ron, particularly during the period of the Yule Ball, where Ron suddenly realizes that Hermione is, in fact, a girl. Hermione begrudgingly snaps back "well spotted" before telling Ron that she has already been asked to the ball. By the fourth year of school, it can be assumed that the students are all approximately 15 years of age, which is around that awkward high school age where kids are trying to figure out the opposite sex. Rowling beautifully demonstrates this theme in the scene aforementioned.
Flash forward to the sixth book where Hermione begins her battle against Lavender Brown for the favor of Ron. Two years of maturation have passed, and Ron is now involved in a cyclone of relationship problems that stemmed from his coming of age as well as his recent jock status as new Gryffindor keeper. This is the point where I realized the connection between Harry's parents and his best friends and began to truly appreciate the scope of Rowling's books. The fact that Harry was given the parents he never had in the form of best friends is truly heartwarming.
I've never thought of Ron and Hermione in that light before! Personally, I thought if there was any parallel between the trio and the Marauders, that Ron and Hermione would more closely resemble Sirius and Lupin, respectively. While I wouldn't quite call Harry's best friends parental figures for him (not that I thought you were doing so), I agree that the differences between them certainly help provide a nice balance to Harry's character and the character of the trio itself. This was a pretty unique perspective, and I also think it sheds a lot of light on some of Rowling's themes of development and the role of friendship. (Sam Jackson, Hufflepuff)
ReplyDeleteThat’s a very interesting point, and something that I had never realized. The thing that Harry has always wanted most was his family. From your observations, it is clear that through out the series, he creates that a family. Without Hermione and Ron, Harry would have been completely lost in so many of the situations in which he had ended up. With out Ron encouraging Harry to push boundaries, Harry probably would have never accomplished any of the things that he did in his time at Hogwarts. With out Hermione there, Harry and Ron would have probably gotten “killed, or worse, EXPELLED!”
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