Ginny Weasley

My favorite image of Ginny, from the HP Lexicon.

I’ve always found Ginny Weasley fascinating, given her ever evolving role in the story and the lives of other characters.  In 2004, Rowling hedged her bets on Ginny in an online chat session:

Field: Do you plan for Ginny to take on a major character role in the next two books?

JK Rowling replies -> Well, now that Ginny has stopped being mute in Harry’s presence I think you can see that she is a fairly forceful personality (and she always has been, remember Ron saying that she ‘never shuts up’ in Chamber of Secrets)?

And the Anelli/Spartz interview generated this series of statements:

the plan was, which I really hope I fulfilled, is that the reader, like Harry, would gradually discover Ginny as pretty much the ideal girl for Harry. She’s tough, not in an unpleasant way, but she’s gutsy. He needs to be with someone who can stand the demands of being with Harry Potter, because he’s a scary boyfriend in a lot of ways. He’s a marked man. I think she’s funny, and I think that she’s very warm and compassionate. These are all things that Harry requires in his ideal woman. But, I felt — and I’m talking years ago when all this was planned — initially, she’s terrified by his image. I mean, he’s a bit of a rock god to her when she sees him first, at 10 or 11, and he’s this famous boy. So Ginny had to go through a journey as well. And rather like with Ron, I didn’t want Ginny to be the first girl that Harry ever kissed. That’s something I meant to say, and it’s kind of tied in.

One of the ways in which I tried to show that Harry has done a lot of growing up — in “Phoenix,” remember when Cho comes into the compartment, and he thinks, ‘I wish I could have been discovered sitting with better people,’ basically? He’s with Luna and Neville. So literally the identical thing happens in “Prince,” and he’s with Luna and Neville again, but this time, he has grown up, and as far as he’s concerned he is with two of the coolest people on the train. They may not look that cool. Harry has really grown. And I feel that Ginny and Harry, in this book, they are total equals. They are worthy of each other. They’ve both gone through a big emotional journey, and they’ve really got over a lot of delusions, to use your word, together. So, I enjoyed writing that. I really like Ginny as a character.

MA: Does she have a larger importance; the Tom Riddle stufff, being the seventh girl —

JKR: The backstory with Ginny was, she was the first girl to arrive in the Weasley family in generations, but there’s that old tradition of the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter and a seventh son of a seventh son, so that’s why she’s the seventh, because she is a gifted witch. I think you get hints of that, because she does some pretty impressive stuff here and there, and you’ll see that again.

Of course, in 2004, Rowling was probably trying to avoid giving away significant plot details.  But her discussion of Ginny in the Anelli/Spartz interview can be illuminating, as well.  Rowling clearly likes Ginny as a character, and who wouldn’t?  She has a force of personality that carries a sense of integrity throughout the books.  After CoS, she refuses to embarass or debase herself for attention — the most notable contrast you can find is with Lavender Brown in HBP, who seemingly adopts any number of childish endeavors to keep Ron’s attention.  Or, an even more eye opening contrast could be drawn in HBP — with Hermione.  In Chapter 15, Hermione reduces herself to announcing a date with the pompous and perpetually alpha Cormac McClaggen, prompting Harry to “ponder in silence the depths to which girls would go to seek revenge.”

I find Ginny to be a proud character in many ways.  While Hermione, the books’ major female protagonist, find herself embroiled in a bitter emotional feud over Ron’s affections, Ginny demonstrates a maturity level in relationships beyond most of the other characters.  She spends a considerable amount of time dating Dean.  But, upon their split, she “did not seem at all upset about the split with Dean; on the contrary, she was the life and soul of the [Gryffindor quidditch] team” (Ch. 24).  By the end of HBP, once Harry splits with for her own safety, she again reacts rather calmly (although Ron confides to Harry in DH that Ginny was rather “cut up” about his decision).  As Ginny grows through her adolescence, she manages to demonstrate both a fierce dedication to what she thinks is right and maintain a very level head in what would otherwise be extremely emotional moments.  Thus, she shares both one character trait with Harry, while manifesting a character trait Harry is sometimes in desperate need of.

Given her place within her family, it’s easy to understand how Ginny has developed these qualities.  Mental and physical toughness would be a requirement with six older brothers of the Weasley stripe, not to mention the financial hurdles.

This characterization is a particularly deft move on Rowling’s part, I think.  While Ginny is clearly fulfilled in her relationship with Harry, we’re also led to believe that Ginny would not “need” Harry to have a full life.  By the time DH begins, and Ginny’s “present” to Harry for his birthday shows her deep affection for him, but this has to be read in light of the strength she has shown earlier.  Ginny manages to synthesize these qualities into a very coherent portrayal of strength stays in Harry’s field of view throughout the final two books, and even part of OotP.  Indeed we could argue that much of Harry’s strength in DH is derived from Ginny’s influence.  Although partially due to our perspective as readers, the evidence does suggest that Harry is far more dependent on her than she is upon him.  Even though Harry has made the choice to protect Ginny by separating from her, he instinctively feels the need “to hug her; to hold on to her,” unconcerned if Mrs. Weasley is watching in the aftermath of their escape from the Death Eater ambush in the opening of DH (Ch. 5).  While it’s obvious later in the chapter that Ginny’s concern brings her emotions outward, Ginny still demonstrates strength in these moments.