Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom share a similar
background: neither of them have parents. Neville’s parents were tortured into
insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange for information about Lord Voldemort’s
whereabouts. The Longbottom’s were alive, but they were incapable of
recognizing their own son. Suffering a fate worse than death, the Longbottom’s
have been at St. Mungo’s ever since. Harry’s parents were murdered by Voldemort;
as explained in The Order of the Phoenix,
this was an attempt on Voldemort’s part to kill the one who would one day have
powers to vanquish him. Harry was thrust into a world of fame because he was ‘the
boy who lived.’ And, thus, his development was far less subtle than Neville’s. This
did not mean, however, that Neville’s development was any less important than
Harry’s. Like Harry, he learned to overcome his trauma and, in the process, he
became a far more important, and stronger, character than one would have
assumed.
Neville was introduced as a shy, clumsy boy, yet he was
sorted into Gryffindor. His lack of self-confidence, among other traits,
affected his work, especially in Potions, and made him the target of relentless
bullying. One did expect much of him. He did not seem to possess any trait that
made one a Gryffindor. Yet, he surprised us all by standing up to Harry, Ron,
and Hermione at the end of Sorcerer’s
Stone. As Dumbledore said, it takes “just as much [bravery] to stand up to
our friends” as our enemies. The praise he received, especially from
Dumbledore, was a catalyst in his development.
Being the son of two highly-esteemed Aurors, Neville was
always compared to his parents. His grandmother held such high expectations of
him that he lived in his father’s shadow. He, unlike his father, was not brave
or intelligent. Thought at first to be a squib, Neville had been faced with the
task of proving himself. In The Goblet of Fire, we saw that Neville
was indeed intelligent; he had a natural aptitude for Herbology that even
Professor Sprout noticed.
In The Prisoner of
Azkaban, Harry likened Neville to Pettigrew. Pettigrew was a shy student
who lacked confidence. His friends were the most popular of their time; he was
under their “protection,” even though his friends bullied him. Likewise, Neville
was shy and he was friends with the famous Harry Potter; he had Harry’s support.
Yet, Neville developed in ways Pettigrew never did. Pettigrew succumbed to
power, to Voldemort, because of fear and cowardice. He betrayed the Potters’
and led them to their death. Neville fought in more ways than one and took the
opposite path. He worked harder to become a better wizard. His progress with
Dumbledore’s Army, in The Order of the
Phoenix, showed that. He surprised many by his achievements. He showed an
unwavering willingness to go to the Ministry of Magic with Harry to save
Sirius, even though he knew of the dangers. He did not back down or run away
when the Death Eaters appeared, he fought. Neville’s development as a character
was truly evident in this moment. His
bravery was unexpected; no longer was he the timid boy we were introduced to.
Through Neville’s growth, Rowling explores the themes of
coming-of-age, trauma, and bullying. Neville overcame trauma, stepped out of
his father’s shadow to become his own person, and stood up to bullying to
become a strong character. At the end of The
Order of the Phoenix, we can finally understand why he was sorted into
Gryffindor. His development may have been subtle, but it proved that even a
seemingly quiet character could become such an important one.
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ReplyDeleteNeville Longbottom develops into a very important character in many ways; however his role in the development of empathy in Harry is profound. In "Half Blood Prince" Harry empathizes with Neville as he imagines what might have happened if Voldemort had indeed chosen him over Harry:
ReplyDelete“Had Voldemort chosen Neville, it would be Neville sitting opposite Harry bearing the lightning-shaped scar and the weight of the prophecy …. Or would it? Would Neville’s mother have died to save him, as Lily had died for Harry? Surely she would …. But what if she had been unable to stand between her son and Voldemort? Would there have been no “Chosen One” at all? An empty seat where Neville now sat and a scarless Harry who would have been kissed good-bye by his own mother, not Ron’s?” (139-40; ch. 7).
Because Harry knows exactly what it means to be the “Chosen One,” he ponders more on what Neville’s life would have been like if their roles were reversed, rather than what his own could have been. In addition to considering Neville more than himself, the fact that Harry does not develop negative feelings towards him and inadvertently blame Neville or his parents for the loss of his own, shows that Harry is developing into an empathetic person capable of recognizing the impact that one’s choices makes in the lives of others.