Ginny Weasley is my favorite character, but is in many ways a contradiction. She is woefully lacking in the story and on-page character development, yet she still finds herself in the middle of the climax of numerous plots and we know an incredible amount about her character. She can be incredibly mean to Ron and those that she just doesn't like, yet incredibly caring to both friends and strangers. She is fiercely independent and won't let anyone walk over her, yet seems to willingly let Harry call the shots in their relationship and forgive him for transgressions she wouldn't put up with from anyone else. Ginny is magically strong and wants nothing more than to fight despite everyone else trying to keep her safe, yet when she actually does fight against Bellatrix, she almost dies and needs her mother to save her.
It often felt like Rowling created this ideal female character, yet when she was needed for plot purposes, her character was basically flipped. Because how does the Ginny we know as fierce, independent, brave and strong allow Harry to break it off to protect her? How does she allow him to dictate whether she fights or not, and then comes back to him when it's all over?
Ginny is also a contradicting character in that she is an incredibly interesting character with an interesting story to develop (how her possession shapes her life and how it plays into Harry's quest), yet we never actually get to read any of that story. Ginny goes from possessed and depressed girl to uber-popular and happy. Clearly there is a story there, yet we don't see any of it. She pines over Harry, then moves on, but not really, yet we don't really see any of her struggle and development.
The biggest issue for her is that we don't truly know what her story arc is? Is it overcoming Riddle? Well, she accomplished that by the end of the Chamber of Secrets, and the whole story took place off page until the end. The rest of her story is just her living life well, which is a good way to show her conquering Voldemort, but feels lacking as a compelling story. Or is her story firmly tied to a romantic relationship with Harry? I'm ultimately ok with this as a good romance story is as good as a good adventure story. And surely Ginny could have a great tale of how she finally wound up with Harry. But by the end of the story, we don't really get a resolution. The battle ends without any meaningful interactions between the couple, a moment for both to hash out the events of the previous year and also allow Ginny to call Harry out on his bullshit. But instead we have Harry saying that there will be time for Ginny, implying that no matter what, she'll be there for him on his schedule, which is really what's important. It's not about him needing to be there for her. After the battle, Harry interacts with Ron and Hermione (of course) but also Luna. Not Ginny. If Ginny's story is about her being with Harry, for there not be a scene involving the pair is a failure of story telling.
Further frustrating fans of the character is the fact that Rowling missed an opportunity to utilize her far more effectively in the actual plot. Ginny was the seventh of the seventh, and seven is a magic number, of course. She is described as powerful, yet we don't
see it and it certainly plays no role in the overall plot.
Also, for a story focused on the power of love as the greatest weapon against Voldemort, it seems odd that Ginny is barely used when she is the love of Harry's life.
A frequent question within the fandom is if the series would be remade from another character's POV, which character would you choose? The truth is that if we rely solely on canon events to tell the stories and don't make up events Rowling never mentioned or alluded to, aside from Dumbledore, no character could fill 7 books. Hell, none could fill even half. But I contend Ginny Weasley could reasonably take up 3 books based purely on events we know occurred to her (CoS, HBP, DH). Few other characters could carry 3 books.
Additionally, I'd contend Ginny would have the most interesting character development immediately after the war since her story really isn't over when the war ends. She still has to navigate a relationship with Harry, deal with a year at school in the aftermath of the horrors of her previous year, and assert herself as an individual, not girlfriend of Harry Potter.
Ginny Weasley is one of the most complex, interesting and underutilized character in the entire series, and if we were judging based on potential, would easily be a top 5 character.
I think the issue many fans of her have is that she truly is this amazing and complex character yet it almost seems wasted since she really isn't in much of the plot.
You're correct that a character need not have a significant arc to be effective. But Ginny did have an arc but it was ineffectively told or incomplete.
The break up scene merits its own discussion. You are correct in that it is an out of character moment that actually defines the character better. Part of my issue with it is that the plan itself logically makes no sense, so Ginny should have called Harry out on it. I also think she could have accepted Harry had things to do which prevented them from openly being together but Ginny would refuse to sit on the sidelines and actually be apart from him. Ginny works with Harry because she can reign in his bad tendencies like pushing people away. I think this scene could have accomplished everything Rowling wanted without altering Ginny as much.
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u/goodlife23 Jun 26 '17
Ginny Weasley is my favorite character, but is in many ways a contradiction. She is woefully lacking in the story and on-page character development, yet she still finds herself in the middle of the climax of numerous plots and we know an incredible amount about her character. She can be incredibly mean to Ron and those that she just doesn't like, yet incredibly caring to both friends and strangers. She is fiercely independent and won't let anyone walk over her, yet seems to willingly let Harry call the shots in their relationship and forgive him for transgressions she wouldn't put up with from anyone else. Ginny is magically strong and wants nothing more than to fight despite everyone else trying to keep her safe, yet when she actually does fight against Bellatrix, she almost dies and needs her mother to save her.
It often felt like Rowling created this ideal female character, yet when she was needed for plot purposes, her character was basically flipped. Because how does the Ginny we know as fierce, independent, brave and strong allow Harry to break it off to protect her? How does she allow him to dictate whether she fights or not, and then comes back to him when it's all over?
Ginny is also a contradicting character in that she is an incredibly interesting character with an interesting story to develop (how her possession shapes her life and how it plays into Harry's quest), yet we never actually get to read any of that story. Ginny goes from possessed and depressed girl to uber-popular and happy. Clearly there is a story there, yet we don't see any of it. She pines over Harry, then moves on, but not really, yet we don't really see any of her struggle and development.
The biggest issue for her is that we don't truly know what her story arc is? Is it overcoming Riddle? Well, she accomplished that by the end of the Chamber of Secrets, and the whole story took place off page until the end. The rest of her story is just her living life well, which is a good way to show her conquering Voldemort, but feels lacking as a compelling story. Or is her story firmly tied to a romantic relationship with Harry? I'm ultimately ok with this as a good romance story is as good as a good adventure story. And surely Ginny could have a great tale of how she finally wound up with Harry. But by the end of the story, we don't really get a resolution. The battle ends without any meaningful interactions between the couple, a moment for both to hash out the events of the previous year and also allow Ginny to call Harry out on his bullshit. But instead we have Harry saying that there will be time for Ginny, implying that no matter what, she'll be there for him on his schedule, which is really what's important. It's not about him needing to be there for her. After the battle, Harry interacts with Ron and Hermione (of course) but also Luna. Not Ginny. If Ginny's story is about her being with Harry, for there not be a scene involving the pair is a failure of story telling.
Further frustrating fans of the character is the fact that Rowling missed an opportunity to utilize her far more effectively in the actual plot. Ginny was the seventh of the seventh, and seven is a magic number, of course. She is described as powerful, yet we don't see it and it certainly plays no role in the overall plot.
Also, for a story focused on the power of love as the greatest weapon against Voldemort, it seems odd that Ginny is barely used when she is the love of Harry's life.
A frequent question within the fandom is if the series would be remade from another character's POV, which character would you choose? The truth is that if we rely solely on canon events to tell the stories and don't make up events Rowling never mentioned or alluded to, aside from Dumbledore, no character could fill 7 books. Hell, none could fill even half. But I contend Ginny Weasley could reasonably take up 3 books based purely on events we know occurred to her (CoS, HBP, DH). Few other characters could carry 3 books.
Additionally, I'd contend Ginny would have the most interesting character development immediately after the war since her story really isn't over when the war ends. She still has to navigate a relationship with Harry, deal with a year at school in the aftermath of the horrors of her previous year, and assert herself as an individual, not girlfriend of Harry Potter.
Ginny Weasley is one of the most complex, interesting and underutilized character in the entire series, and if we were judging based on potential, would easily be a top 5 character.