HMS_Yowling (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} hms_yowling) wrote,@ 2003-07-23 19:00:00 |
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More on Mirroring
I'm planning on seeing Pirates by the end of the week and so wanted to get all my theorizing out of my system before I switched to a new obsession.
In looking at parallels between the Marauder and the New Marauder generations, I initially came up with the following:
Harry</b> = James
Hermione</b> = Lily, although I was never quite convinced of that
Ron</b> = Peter
Draco</b> = Snape
Neville</b> = ?
Having read OotP, my theories have changed, and I’ve come to the conclusion that there are no exact parallels. Certain characters in the New Marauder generation mirror more than one character in the Original Marauder generation.
Now it looks like this:
Fred & George = Sirius
Ginny = Lily. I’m fairly confident that she, rather than Hermione (or Luna) is the Lily figure. I base this on her defense of Neville on the train, and her friendship with Luna, though she does quite clearly recognize that Luna has her quirks. In terms of romantic relationships, she could, in the end, play Lily to Harry’s James, or possibly Alice to Neville’s Frank.
Harry = what James should have been/could have been/grew to be. He also parallels Snape in his horrific childhood and awful clothes. If Harry had not been The Boy Who Lived, I do wonder what his life at Hogwarts would have been like.
Hermione = Remus primarily, in that she’s the conscience of the New Marauders, but one with more of a backbone than Remus had at 15. I also see a bit of Snape in her (the obsessive studying), and I’m also willing to contemplate that she plays Lily to a hair-obsessed Draco (see below). Although, I’m not willing to rule out Hermione/Neville either. Or Ron/Hermione for that matter.
Luna = Snape, in that she’s a bit of an obsessive oddball who is regularly hazed by her peers (witness her posting a request that her belongings be returned to her at the end of the year). The advantage Luna has over Snape is that she seemingly has two parents who loved her. Her father is still living, and is quite obviously a bit of an odd duck himself, and therefore not likely to be unhappy with a daughter who marches to her own drummer.
Neville = ?
Percy = Snape (if it turns out that Percy is a spy. I do so want Percy to be a spy for the Order.)
Ron = Peter, although yes, he could also be a Remus-mirror in that he won’t confront the twins when they’re pushing matters too far.
Draco = sigh Draco is a conundrum. Based on Snape’s defense of Draco at the end of OotP, it seems to me that Snape, at least, may see Draco as his parallel. This could be for either or both of the following reasons: 1) Draco's rivalry with Harry (because it parallels Snape's "rivalry" with James and 2) Draco doesn't seem to get parental support (and OotP shows us that Snape's homelife was none too great). But as for who Draco is meant to mirror, I’m not quite sure.
I found myself confused by Draco’s behaviour early on in the book. Why, if Draco is remotely intelligent, would Draco loudly hint that Lucius had, perhaps, seen Sirius? Surely it would serve Lucius and the Death Eaters better if Harry didn’t know what the DEs knew. Draco lets slip information one or two additional times as well. It didn’t seem to be the brightest thing -- either for Lucius to share the info. with Draco or for Draco to share what he’d learned with Harry, even to taunt him. For a moment, I had wild thoughts of Draco actually being against his father and the DEs. Was he a sort of snotty Scarlet Pimpernel? I also began to speculate wildly about Dobby. Just how *did* Dobby work up the courage to go help Harry anyway? Could he have been ordered to? And then there was Dobby’s obsession with Harry not going back to Hogwarts, for Harry's “safety.” Could it be that Draco’s streak of selfishness led him to demand that Dobby keep Harry away from Hogwarts so that Draco could have his rightful place in the limelight?
Unfortunately, Draco’s wholehearted support of Umbridge lead me to throw this whole theory out the window. Draco letting info. slip in front of Harry probably just falls under the heading of “convenient plot device.” Plus, Harry getting Lucius sent to Azbakan -- and being fairly nasty to Draco about it to boot -- could drive Draco to do something very stupid. Draco could very well suffer a serious loss of status because of this, and I do believe status is very important to Draco.
On the up-side however, there are a few parallels that make it entirely possible that Draco will not “go bad.” The first is Sirius -- Sirius overcame childhood training that could have brainwashed him into becoming Death Eater fodder.
Contradictory evidence: Draco was sorted into Slytherin, Sirius into Griffindor. Rowling, however, seems to be saying that house affiliation should not be taken as an indication of morality. It also struck me, however, that Remus’s “explanation” of James’ flaws could cover Draco’s “a prat at 15” flaws as well.
The other semi-weird point in Draco’s favor is his obsession with his hair, which also leads me to wonder if he’s not meant to parallel James in some ways. Plus, it seems that Ron, even more than Harry, is the object of Draco’s ire. This could be because Draco is a classist snob; or because Draco has a deep-seated aversion to red hair; or because he resents (still) that Harry chose Ron over Draco as a friend. But Draco’s altercations with Hermione, combined with the hair obsession and the Ron loathing now make me wonder whether… Draco has deeply repressed feelings for Miss Granger. And so, as James did with Lily, is acting even more like a prat to get her attention?
Lastly, and also oddly, the whole “Weasley Is Our King” bit gives me hope that Draco is too smart to simply fall in with the Death Eaters. I found the song very clever, and amusing. Yes, of course I felt sorry for Ron, but it was a brilliant nonmagical way to accomplish his ends.
Edited 8/24: One thing about Hermione that makes her more of a Lupin than a Lily: she, unlike Ginny, is not tremendously tolerant of Luna Lovegood. Ginny may admit to finding Luna odd, but it's not the same thing. (This thought came to me as I was riding the subway yesterday. The passenger next to me was reading OotP, and when I glanced over to see what page she was on, Hermione's irritation with Luna leapt out at me.)
</lj>
I'm planning on seeing Pirates by the end of the week and so wanted to get all my theorizing out of my system before I switched to a new obsession.
In looking at parallels between the Marauder and the New Marauder generations, I initially came up with the following:
Harry</b> = James
Hermione</b> = Lily, although I was never quite convinced of that
Ron</b> = Peter
Draco</b> = Snape
Neville</b> = ?
Having read OotP, my theories have changed, and I’ve come to the conclusion that there are no exact parallels. Certain characters in the New Marauder generation mirror more than one character in the Original Marauder generation.
Now it looks like this:
Fred & George = Sirius
Ginny = Lily. I’m fairly confident that she, rather than Hermione (or Luna) is the Lily figure. I base this on her defense of Neville on the train, and her friendship with Luna, though she does quite clearly recognize that Luna has her quirks. In terms of romantic relationships, she could, in the end, play Lily to Harry’s James, or possibly Alice to Neville’s Frank.
Harry = what James should have been/could have been/grew to be. He also parallels Snape in his horrific childhood and awful clothes. If Harry had not been The Boy Who Lived, I do wonder what his life at Hogwarts would have been like.
Hermione = Remus primarily, in that she’s the conscience of the New Marauders, but one with more of a backbone than Remus had at 15. I also see a bit of Snape in her (the obsessive studying), and I’m also willing to contemplate that she plays Lily to a hair-obsessed Draco (see below). Although, I’m not willing to rule out Hermione/Neville either. Or Ron/Hermione for that matter.
Luna = Snape, in that she’s a bit of an obsessive oddball who is regularly hazed by her peers (witness her posting a request that her belongings be returned to her at the end of the year). The advantage Luna has over Snape is that she seemingly has two parents who loved her. Her father is still living, and is quite obviously a bit of an odd duck himself, and therefore not likely to be unhappy with a daughter who marches to her own drummer.
Neville = ?
Percy = Snape (if it turns out that Percy is a spy. I do so want Percy to be a spy for the Order.)
Ron = Peter, although yes, he could also be a Remus-mirror in that he won’t confront the twins when they’re pushing matters too far.
Draco = sigh Draco is a conundrum. Based on Snape’s defense of Draco at the end of OotP, it seems to me that Snape, at least, may see Draco as his parallel. This could be for either or both of the following reasons: 1) Draco's rivalry with Harry (because it parallels Snape's "rivalry" with James and 2) Draco doesn't seem to get parental support (and OotP shows us that Snape's homelife was none too great). But as for who Draco is meant to mirror, I’m not quite sure.
I found myself confused by Draco’s behaviour early on in the book. Why, if Draco is remotely intelligent, would Draco loudly hint that Lucius had, perhaps, seen Sirius? Surely it would serve Lucius and the Death Eaters better if Harry didn’t know what the DEs knew. Draco lets slip information one or two additional times as well. It didn’t seem to be the brightest thing -- either for Lucius to share the info. with Draco or for Draco to share what he’d learned with Harry, even to taunt him. For a moment, I had wild thoughts of Draco actually being against his father and the DEs. Was he a sort of snotty Scarlet Pimpernel? I also began to speculate wildly about Dobby. Just how *did* Dobby work up the courage to go help Harry anyway? Could he have been ordered to? And then there was Dobby’s obsession with Harry not going back to Hogwarts, for Harry's “safety.” Could it be that Draco’s streak of selfishness led him to demand that Dobby keep Harry away from Hogwarts so that Draco could have his rightful place in the limelight?
Unfortunately, Draco’s wholehearted support of Umbridge lead me to throw this whole theory out the window. Draco letting info. slip in front of Harry probably just falls under the heading of “convenient plot device.” Plus, Harry getting Lucius sent to Azbakan -- and being fairly nasty to Draco about it to boot -- could drive Draco to do something very stupid. Draco could very well suffer a serious loss of status because of this, and I do believe status is very important to Draco.
On the up-side however, there are a few parallels that make it entirely possible that Draco will not “go bad.” The first is Sirius -- Sirius overcame childhood training that could have brainwashed him into becoming Death Eater fodder.
Contradictory evidence: Draco was sorted into Slytherin, Sirius into Griffindor. Rowling, however, seems to be saying that house affiliation should not be taken as an indication of morality. It also struck me, however, that Remus’s “explanation” of James’ flaws could cover Draco’s “a prat at 15” flaws as well.
The other semi-weird point in Draco’s favor is his obsession with his hair, which also leads me to wonder if he’s not meant to parallel James in some ways. Plus, it seems that Ron, even more than Harry, is the object of Draco’s ire. This could be because Draco is a classist snob; or because Draco has a deep-seated aversion to red hair; or because he resents (still) that Harry chose Ron over Draco as a friend. But Draco’s altercations with Hermione, combined with the hair obsession and the Ron loathing now make me wonder whether… Draco has deeply repressed feelings for Miss Granger. And so, as James did with Lily, is acting even more like a prat to get her attention?
Lastly, and also oddly, the whole “Weasley Is Our King” bit gives me hope that Draco is too smart to simply fall in with the Death Eaters. I found the song very clever, and amusing. Yes, of course I felt sorry for Ron, but it was a brilliant nonmagical way to accomplish his ends.
Edited 8/24: One thing about Hermione that makes her more of a Lupin than a Lily: she, unlike Ginny, is not tremendously tolerant of Luna Lovegood. Ginny may admit to finding Luna odd, but it's not the same thing. (This thought came to me as I was riding the subway yesterday. The passenger next to me was reading OotP, and when I glanced over to see what page she was on, Hermione's irritation with Luna leapt out at me.)
</lj>
