I am basically trying to analyse the Harry Potter books. And the way they could have been more character driven.
Admittedly when you start a book like Harry Potter, you would think it's more based on world building and world complexities than on characters. But as the books went on it became apparent that it is not the case. The entire series takes palce at one location- Hogwarts. We don't get alot of magical sites and understanding of magical cultures. Even the war is treated as good side and bad side. No ideologies, or political clashes. And yeah, i understand that it's a children's book. But when you write seven books, some complexities are needed. Instead we get some hastily written instances in book 7 about children's fairy tale and only because of plot requirements.
Let's face it- They don't win because Character's are clever or something. They win because Voldemort makes lots of mistakes and we have lot's of plot convinces. Rowling tried to sell us that it was Dumbledore's big bad plan all along. I wondered a long time, that why people hated Dumbledore. It was because we can't except that all those series of coincidences were Dumbledore's plan all along.
So if not a story driven tale than we must have a chracter driven story - right? Nope. Firstly the story revolves around only three chracters, whereas in first book lot's of side chracters had great potential- Neville, Draco, Ginny and even later chracters like Tonks and Lupin. But let's focus on the golden three first-
Harry Potter- Let's face it - Harry does not have a personality until book 5. He is a little bland. He is brave and has communication issues and.... that's it. The thing is Harry did have a amazing arc even with his lack of personality. The orphan arc. So here is Harry who was abused and always dreamed about having parents. And then he enters the magical world and learns that his parents were heroes. And he is wants to live upto them. That's all. He is obsessive about it. Trying to live upto them, trying to find their peaces. Whenever he makes mistakes he thinks he doesn't deserve being their son. He is basically hero worshipping what he thinks his parents would be like. Lupin warns him in book 3 that his parents won't want it. Harry doesn't believe it. And boom- Book 5, Harry realizes that his dad bullied someone. And then he realizes that they were no idolized gods but humans. That everyone makes mistakes and it's alright and that he can be himself. Of course there is alot of self turmoil and struggle here but he succeededs and till book 7 he fully becomes his own self or atleast is on the way. The thing is that the story provides all the asects for this arc and doesn't work on it.
Even later the story provides instances of character development. Harry is impulsive. So at end of book 5 he impulsively goes and ultimately Sirius dies while trying to rescue him. This is an amazing plot. So in book 6- Harry suspects something wrong with Draco but can't trust his instincts because thats what got Sirius killed right? Instead of Harry and Hermione being at opposite ends, it's all Harry's inner argument. His own turmoil. And so he doesn't take right actions on time and Dumbledore dies. Now Harry is guiltier and unsure. But during book 7 he slowly begins to trust himself but also to not act impulsively. He learns to find a balance. And in the end Dumbledore last step of the plan is front of him but it feels so wrong. And he trust his instincts and they win. Instead we get someone who turns and twists for the story. We don't even get the moment where he is guilty for uttering Voldemort's name which led to their capture and
Hermione's torture and dobby's death. That bothered me alot.
Hermione Granger- Let's round her chracter in book 1- "Books! And cleverness! There are more important things — friendship and bravery". This realization was so important for her character. This anti-social no it all, who finally understands that there is something more important than academics.But now she has to live upto it. So Hermione never had friends and now she does. But she is always afraid. What if they leave her? So she has to useful to them. Has to know everything because that's why she is here right? And when she came to magical world she thought it would be better. But she slowly realizes that only names have changed the unfairness is the same. She struggles with all this along the books. And she has knowledge but can't always apply it. So she is frustrated. And then she fails to know something important at one point and blames herself and breaks down. That's when Ron and Harry realize. But instead of leaving her they embrace her and tells her that it's all right. That they will always love her. She would always struggle with social skills, beacuse why can't she tell an idiot that he is idiot on his face? She is the one with an emotional range of a teaspoon and it's sometimes adorable. Sometimes she uses her knowledge quite violently and is very guilty later. Like when the Merietta Edgecomb incident.
They were actually going fine till book-3. But then she suddenly aquired social and people's skills. She can basically solve any problem just by reading something in a book. In book 7 she claims to have never learned to obliviate people but succeeds the first try. So why did she even go to Hogwarts. It's not like she needs teachers. I actually love Hermione alot. But I wish I could have seen her struggling and trying and losing and then winning.
Ron Weasley- I always thought that Ron had the most amazing chracter arc set up for him which was completely and utterly destroyed. It was all there in the very first meeting. So First, here is the character unsure of himself and thinks he is not enough. He wants to be more than his brother's shadow. And Second, he is so utterly loyal that he follows Harry on every path. He put his entire trust system in harry. Here is where he stumbles. If Harry doesn't have a vision then Ron is lost. Of Harry can't expalin then Ron can't find the answer himself. So there is a point where Ron and Harry both have different solution to a problem but Ron never tells his because he thinks Harry's must be better than his because it has to be. They are unsuccessful and he tells them later his idea and they succeeded. So over the course of books this repeats and slowly Ron realizes that he can have different opinions and ideas than his friends and they are still valid. That while he is loyal and loves his friends, he can contribute so much to the team. That he is not less. And that's how he gains self confidence. Not by following his best friend's and brother's path but by carving his own. By being himself. He could continued being the strategic genius. I hated that they abandoned that storyline. Image Ron telling harry some tips for the third task. Like always take the left turn. Or i DA while Harry teaches, Ron is contemplating strategies with that particular spell. Or in the Final battle , he is standing with Mcgonagall suggesting various outcomes and pointing out weaknesses. He is the one who finds solution with limited resources and doesn't panic when in the situation. Instead he was petty and sullen and jealous and gets concluded being hardly more. Look at his carrer choice- He first follows Harry and then works at his brother's shop. He could have had his thing. Apparently it took to much effort.
Interestingly Harry Potter does have charcters who had development. Behind the scenes, of course . Namely Ginny and Neville.
Ginny Weasley - This is a chracter who was literally there for complexities. Ginny at 11 was possessed by Voldemort. Did it leave no trauma? Guilt? Did she not struggle at all? Ginny obviously had some transformation during book 3,4,5. So we could say that she had nightmares. She couldn't trust herself. She did not fly for a long time. She actually forms friendship with Harry. Not crush. Friendship. We could have had a scene in book 3 or 4 Harry drags Ginny to the ground and she flies again for the first time in years. He is the one who pushes her in trials in thefifth year. She slowly deals with her trauma and starts being herself. But when she becomes angry she can't control herself. She hexes people. She confesses to Hermione that she is not sure that Tom really ever left her. And she has major trust issues. But she slowly makes friends and becomes better instaed of-
Book 2,3,4,5- Shy.
Book 6- Badass.
Ginny was literally born with potential. She and Harry didn't even have to date. She could still do better.
Neville Longbottom - He was clearly leader in book 7. He could have had his journey for a long time instead of the too sudden transformation. He could have been a better friend of the golden trio. They make him realize his worth. Like someone is having a panic attack and he calms them because he has seen his parents go through much verse on one of his visits. He tells Hermione not to overwork herself in the third year. She doesn't need marks to prove her worth. She is so much more than that. Instead of Dumbledore telling Harry about the Longbottom tragedy, it's Neville himself. Like in book 3 where Harry thinks that Sirius betrayed his parents and is really upset and Neville comes to know this somehow, he tells Harry what happened to his parents. Then in book 5 he is the one who gives this amazing speech of why they should join DA. Say he is the one in book 6 who leads because Harry is not there. He uses Hermione's knowledge and Ron's strategy and Ginny's raw power perfectly. He also unknowingly gives Harry some advice for quidditch captancy. He encourages Ron or Hermione. He snaps at Snape in book 6 because he is bullying a student. And then at end of book 6 Neville takes responsibility of Hogwarts, of DA. Not a sudden transformation but over the books.
Draco Malfoy - This one is simple. The redemption arc. Admittedly, Draco is not my most favourite chracter. But if he has a proper redemption arc, it could work. Like, he is been told this glorified stories of Voldemort and death eaters. So when Cedric dies, he is horrified. Let's say Cedric was a pureblood (Idk this one). So he is confused and scared because why would Voldemort kill pureblood? He suppose to protect them. So he is conflicted. Then in book 5, he is initially happy because of Umbridge but then sees how she tortures students and then feels sick. Then all book 6 is the same. Then in book 7, he knows he is wrong and is very guilty. He is the one who frees Ron and Harry. He gives up his wand easily during the duel. Later in the battle he doesn't fight with them. But he tells them an important peace of information. And he takes all Slytherins who are conflicted like him with him.
Lupin- Lupin was the last one left. For 12 years he thought so. So obviously this has consequences. He can't forgive himself for leaving Sirius to rot. To never give him benefit of doubt. And his self-hatred was another strong point of the chracter.
Tonks- She is not only interesting for her ability but also for her parentage. So she meets Draco and tells him that he is so much more than his family name. That he can be so much more. If he gives himself a chance.
Regulus Black- That was one of the most inspiring chracters in Harry Potter. He actually had one of the best stories. They could have done so much with him. Like they don't just find his intials so easily on his bedroom door. They find another letter or perhaps they go back to the cave. That could also address Harry's guilt or trauma. And they find an object who's memories can be seen and sees Regulas do something. So they know it's Regulus but have not yet come to Krecher. So they slowly unravel peaces of bis life. His parents. His wayward brother. The death eaters. His guilt. And anger. And then Krecher. So they could have truly broken our hearts. Insted of the nagini in in Bertha sequence.