[memyslfnI]

Author Bio

Gowdie first discovered Harry Potter in late 2001. Two years later, as part of her recovery process after a nasty incident of almost becoming a lawyer, she fully immersed herself in his wonderful world and the online fandom. She wrote this essay in an attempt to stretch the old scholarly muscles, as they had become slightly atrophied from lack of use. But that doesn't mean her big giant brain should be any less intimidating. Fear the brain!

This post has been edited by memyslfnI: 02 April 2006 - 07:56 AM

[memyslfnI]

Abstract

Humour is a very important element of Harry's life - he uses it as both a survival mechanism and a source of pleasure. For Harry, humour is a key desired trait in a romantic relationship. In The Half-Blood Prince Harry discovers that Ginny fulfils this need, and he develops a strong sexual attraction to her as a result. As a couple they also share similar values and communicate well - implying that if they both survive the seventh book, the pair could be set up for a healthy long-term relationship.

You can read this essay here.

This post has been edited by AnguaTLC: 23 January 2008 - 01:25 AM

[UKray]

Gowdie, I love the essay. Really well done!

The only thing I think is missing is that Ginny herself has had personal experience with Voldemort (book 2) and I think that gives her and Harry one more very important thing in common.

[jadedragon]

Great essay! Well done! It really shows that these books have a lot of meaning behind the text and that they are not children's books anymore!

This post has been edited by jadedragon: 02 April 2006 - 03:54 PM

[LacewingFlies]

Very good essay! I agree with the all of the points made! Before I read this, I hadn't thought about how compatible Harry and Ginny's senses of humour were.

[MJLeakyCon]

Love, love, love your essay! Great research, great references! I really enjoyed it!

There are so many people in the HP community who "don't get" Harry's choosing Ginny...and I think this essay beautifully lays out (for those who either need contact to the head with a blunt object, or need it written out with a Crayola crayon) the events that lead up to their romance. I will say that I have always appreciated that they have the same sense of humor when times are good...but I had somehow overlooked (in ALL my rereading) that they had the same sarcastic, yet humorous "bite" when they are angry. See, even avid Harry/Ginny shippers miss out on some important details!

My only criticism was already brought up by UKRay...that Ginny is the only other person that Harry knows to have been possessed by LV. Harry says himself that he had forgotten that had happened to her. I think her conviction in helping the Order take down LV, and her faith that Harry will be the one who will ultimately be able to do it, stems largely on her own experiences in CoS. Take her reaction in HBP when she finds out that Harry is "taking instruction" from a book in which the author is unknown. She is frightened and draws back to her own experience to give Harry both incite and warning. Harry appreciates what she is saying, but deduces quickly that a) the Half-Blood Prince is NOT Tom Riddle/LV and b) Ginny's experience with Riddle's diary is completely different from what he is doing with the HBP.

Thank you for taking the time to write this, and having the confidence to submit it. I think that many people will enjoy it, and some will even open their opinions up to the possibility of alteration.

[1voice]

This was a wonderfully written essay. Very professional, very well supported. I had never really noticed the similarities between Harry and Ginny's humor.

Congratulations on such a great essay!

[frizbog]

This was a very good essay. It's believable too because "he/she makes me laugh" is very often one of the top reasons mentioned by couples why they like each other so much.

I wonder what Gowdie thinks is the main basis for Ginny's attraction to Harry and what she sees in him.

[JackHarkness]

Excellent essay. I think you've hit the nail on the head, and picked up on everything JKR intended us to pick up on. She said herself in the interview that one of the things Harry requires in his ideal woman is that she is "funny". As she's a big Morrissey/Smiths fan, I can see why JKR could pick a dark, dry sense of humour as a major part of her main couple's relationship!

I think another element is that Ginny is able to speak to Harry on his own level. When Harry needs a good talking to about something, Ron tends not to want to get involved, and Hermione tends to nag him and boss him - neither helps, and he starts to resent Hermione for her bossiness in HBP. Ginny treats him with repsect, compassion, patience, but also blunt honesty, and along with Lupin, she's probably the best person at knowing how to speak to him on his level, cheer him up, and deal with his mood swings. That, I think, is another essential part of why Ginny is Harry's "best source of comfort" - she knows how to speak to him in a way Ron and Hermione haven't quite managed yet. Maybe they never will - it's an instinctive thing, something you can't learn, and something which comes perhaps from Harry and Ginny's similar personalities. It's just natural, like their sense of humour.

This post has been edited by JackHarkness: 02 April 2006 - 06:05 PM

[berng00]

Well done essay. i'm not a fan of the Harry/Ginny ship, but what you said makes complete sense.