In Defense of Neville Longbottom

NevilleOver at Tor, blogger Emily Asher-Perrin has written a nice piece about Neville Longbottom, pegging him not only as an undervalued character, but going as far as saying that he, “determines the course of the Harry Potter series.” While initially sounding like a bit of an outlandish claim, she mounts a pretty convincing defense in her essay. She also draws some very interesting generational parallels that I hadn’t really picked up while reading the books. All and all, it’s a great read for Harry Potter fans. Hop on over to Tor to check out the full essay, but here’s an excerpt:

Rowling largely operates Harry’s generation in a clear system of parallels to the previous generation, Marauders and all. Harry is his father—Quidditch star, a little pig-headed sometimes, an excellent leader. Ron is Sirius Black—snarky and fun, loyal to a fault, mired in self-doubts. Hermione is Remus Lupin—book smart and meticulous, always level-headed, unfailingly perceptive. Ginny is Lily Evans—a firecracker, clever and kind, unwilling to take excuses. Draco Malfoy is Severus Snape—a natural foil to Harry, pretentious, possessed of the frailest ego and also deeper sense of right and wrong when it counts. And guess what?

Neville Longbottom is Peter Pettigrew.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *