although I'm sure everyone's aware of it in some form I have to say the character development in hp, particularly of the main character just plain sucks. A writer should never have to explain a character off page more than a little bit. Yet almost everything I know about Ginny Weasly I learned from an interview, not a book. Ginny Weasly doesn't exist until OotP and even then its minimal. For fuck's sake we know more about Luna Lovegood than Gin-Gin. And she's 'the ideal girl for Harry'? Sorry Missus Rowling but you're wrong. In fact that statement shows exactly what you know about you're own main character. jack. and shit.

He has a more successful relationship with Hermione than Ginny. And that says a lot. I find it infinitely more likely that Ginny has been feeding Harry some of her brothers' pantented love potions (which she didn't pay for, by the way), and has either been slipping them to him herself of more likely she's worked out a deal with Dobby or even Kreacher to put them in his goblet daily.

Dumbledore may even be right about love being the power he can use to destroy Voldemort, I wouldn't doubt it, but love != fake teenage romance, not by a long shot, and I can see now that the final book will either focus mainly on that one realization or have Harry wake up to find he's been duped and forgive Ginny anyway thus creating 'real love'. uke:

What's really been obvious from book three on is that the Patronus is a vital bit of magic Harry can do. It's connected to his real talent. The power. And if he can push further in that branch of magic, which not a single fanfic author has really done, by the way, then he could actually stand a chance in a fight with a man over thirty years his senior.

But enough about that. Harry Potter is a flawed character. And I don't mean in a human sense. I mean it in an 'the author has screwed this up royally' sense.

That's something I hate feeling, direct author influence of events. Which was what they entire Department of Mysteries fiasco was. At least three of those kids should have died, including Ginny, but the hand of God steps in and they miraculously escape without any trouble.

The biggest problem is that Harry is so stupid. And I don't mean intelligence stupid. He doesn't learn from his mistakes at all. He has no drive or active curiosity about the wizarding world. He is a passive entity when it comes to knowledge, and a foreign entity when it comes to using it. He's the type of guy that has to be spoonfed everything he knows about his own situation. And then he gets pissed because he doesn't know anything after Cedric dies. But still he does jack shit about it except yell at his friends. But Harry grew up with his aunt and uncle. People who were harsh teachers to him. If he didn't figure it out quickly he got hit. If he didn't do something correctly he got locked up in his cupboard. If he didn't learn everything he could as fast as he could he was in a bad way. And then Hagrid comes to save him and all that changes. So he becomes generally lazy with his learning after that? Sorry, I don't buy it. Once he realized people like Snape and Voldemort existed, this character would have tried to learn everything he could so they couldn't hold it against him. What actually happened, canonically, is only remotely believable.

 

*Bows to you* A very powerful essay, if i could i would have emailed it to Jk.

 

I don't give a shit about Ginny and other characters, but I could rant for hours about the stupidity of Harry's character... or about the lack of one.

I mean, what is his favourite food? What does he like to do, besides play Quidditch? And does he really like Quidditch, or is it just flying he's interested in? Is he funny, is he withdrawn? Can he tell a story? What is his oppinion about house elves? What does he think about dark magic and "fight fire with fire"?

I could go on for hours like this. The fact is, there is NO Harry Potter. The character from the canon is just a walking camera, showing the events around him. I guess that is cool for fan-fiction coz you can turn him into whatever you like, but it sucks for a serious novel.

 

I agree right from the very start about the characters.

The fact that she has to keep explaining things in order for the story to make sense reflects VERY poorly on JK as an author. Unfortunately, I don't think JK truly thought out this complicated world. We know VERY little about the government and other things. I think she just wanted to tell School-Boy Mystery Stories (Hardy Boys, Encylopedia Brown, etc.) in a setting filled with magic. I also think that the Ginny Weasley romance was forced by the author, and doesn't feel organic. That's why readers resent her character who seems to pop out of nowhere with a whole slew of cliche romance archetypes behind her. Of course, that's also why she's popular. She's the "regular" girl that tweens/teens can pretend to be.

The lack of genuine jeopardy in her stories is one of my biggest problems. The only time we've seen consequences is when Bill Weasley got maimed at the end of book 6. That's it. The Basilisk in Book 2 did no permaneant damage, nor did the rampaging Dementors or Werewolf in Book 3. Book 4 was fine, as everything up until the last event was being controlled by officials. Book 5 was the most absurd as you pointed out (well, maybe book 2...its a toss up.)

But, Harry she wanted to give him a "dark" past, yet she didn't make that past have any weight. Its not even that he overcomes his childhood abuse, its just never addressed. According to JKR, it just isn't an issue for him apparently. She wanted Rags to Riches, in an odd way, yet Harry isn't haunted by any ghosts from his darker days. He also seems to not even have had any impressions made upon him by what can only be termed a very difficult childhood.

By making Harry the abused orphan, she garners instant sympathy. However, she also never fully explored this aspect, making the character shallow and hollow. These books aren't popular because of the characters. They are popular because of the unique setting. That's what they offer. That and the fantasy of child-empowerment. That maybe YOU could be a wizard. Unfortunately, the story would be much better if it was fully developed. Tragically, JK has chosen not to.

 

I humblyI humbly bow before all these magnificent argument. And request time when my boss isn't around to add my own.

 

I can see now that the whole development of Harry's character, though already flawed, totally went to shit after the Department of Mysteries. The end of book five should have happened in a way to force Harry into the realization that he's not strong enough and light a fire under his ass, because as it is he spent the entirety of next year jerking off and telling fate to go fuck itself because he was going to live a normal teenage life, damnit! Which is why, coincidentally I was ecstatic to read the dimension hopping for beginners because somebody needs to bitchslap that idiot!

 

there is some good review up there but then there is the fact that JKR doesn't get into harry's head. what i wanna know is that how doese harry think and how does goes on about the choises he makes, what he feels inside than just yelling at people becuase he's mad.
i mean when i read a book of any harry potter i feel like just another person that hovers around harry like an invisible ghost. i mean many developed characters bound to make good stories because that author wants the main character to know how i feel. just look at the ra salvator books. if any of you read any of his book then you'l know what i'm talking about. I'm so disapointed jk fucked it up so damn badly.