Friends, it has been far too long since I've updated. I know this because I'm sick and tired of seeing Jake Lloyd's face when I go to my blog. It's unacceptable, and I apologize if it's repeatedly happened to you in recent days. To make it up to you, I have something awesome to address today.
And that something is Hermione Granger. (Okay, someone. Whatever.)
As you know, I think a lot of thoughts about fictional beings, and in my cerebral wanderings the other day, I realized something.
Hermione Granger is a F***ing Badass and Total Champ.
It's not like I didn't know this. Like any self-respecting Over-Achieving Lady Nerd, Hermione was my favorite character in the Harry Potter books. I knew she was awesome. But honestly, I haven't devoted a lot of thought to her being as a whole - the cumulative effect she had on the novels and her place within the narrative. And it's when I started counting up the awesome that I realized.
Hermione Granger is a F***ing Badass and Total Champ.
Let's begin. It is a very basic fact that without Hermione, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley would have been stuck in some very dire situations. They saved her from the troll once, and she repaid the favor several times over. Even within the narrative of the books, so much information is revealed, and so many conflicts are resolved at the hand of Hermione.
Who solved the majority of the clues to get Harry through to Snape Quirrell at the end of Sorcerer's Stone? Who figured out that the Chamber of Secrets housed a basilisk? Who had the Time-Turner that completely facilitated the third act of Prisoner of Azkaban? And who figured out how to outsmart time and save two innocent souls, not to mention hers and Harry's time-traveling skins?
Hermione Granger, ladies and gentlemen. She OUTSMARTED TIME. Can you argue with that? I think not.
I mean, it's well-established that Hermione is The Brains. In any Heroic Trio, there's usually The Brains, The Brawn, and The Heart. Harry Potter is no different - Hermione takes her place as The Brains alongside Harry as The Brawn and Ron as The Heart.
But I love that Hermione is so much more than Brains. If she were just Brains, she would have been sorted into Ravenclaw faster than you can say "Hogwarts, A History." But she's not. Hermione Granger, even with all her "books" and "cleverness," is a Gryffindor.
Because she is a F***ing Badass and Total Champ.
She successfully blackmailed a slandering reporter out of her career. She could easily hatch a plan and smell a trap. You would expect her to be completely socially inept, but she actually is astoundingly good at reading people and shown herself to be exceptionally compassionate. As a teenager, she tried to establish her own organization to champion the rights of underprivileged house elves. Through it all, the girl had an unfailing moral compass. When did Hermione Granger ever do the wrong thing, I ask you?
But perhaps the thing that I love most about Hermione is that she is a character who made a choice. The stories are about Harry Potter and his prophecy. He is The Chosen One. I don't mean to diminish Harry's importance, but the fact that he is chosen makes his character inherently passive. He didn't choose his fate; fate chose him. But Hermione? Hermione chose. She could have easily turned her back on the Wizarding World, and on Harry's destiny to fight Voldemort. She could have returned to her dentist parents, and lived like a Muggle. It would have been easy.
But she didn't. She chose to stay, and to fight. She chose be hunted. She chose to die, if the Death Eaters got to them. She chose Harry Potter and his cause over her own family. She chose to rid her parents of the memory of her. She chose to stay with Harry, even when Ron left.
Hermione Granger was not chosen. She chose. And not only does that make Hermione Granger an active character, but an amazingly noble one at that. A F***ing Badass, and Total Champ. She was subjected to torture by one of the most cruel and twisted witches history ever saw, and she refused to let any secret slip. Hermione Granger, she of book-smarts and fears of failure, chose to fight an impossible battle for the cause of justice, goodness, and loyalty.
She is a true Gryffindor, and a fantastic literary creation. Actually, I think she's even better onscreen than on the page, thanks to some excellent interpretation by Steve Kloves and Emma Watson. But that's a different post for a different day. Today, I'm here to remind you that Hermione Granger is a F***ing Badass and Total Champ. And anyone who tries to tell me otherwise will get a fist in the nose just like Draco Malfoy in The Prisoner of Azkaban.
(Just kidding. I think.)
I confess I am inclined to think that Hermione is Brains, Brawn, AND Heart. But I might be biased, because she is just truly excellent. A role model for ladies everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI KNOOOOOOW. Brains, Brawn, and Heart 100%. Because she is JUST THAT AWESOME.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a really interesting point that Hermione could have left the Wizarding World and returned to Muggle life. I never thought of that.
ReplyDeleteBut really, who would choose Muggle life over the Wizarding World, even if it were safer? (Which itself is open to debate.)
I dunno - to me, I think it takes a HELL of a lot of courage to voluntarily stay in harm's way when it'd honestly be easier to leave. I wish JKR had touched on Hermione's decision a bit more; sigh.
ReplyDeleteIn case I didn't make myself clear, I agree with you about it being a courageous decision. The rhetorical question was more to express my love of the Wizarding World.
ReplyDeleteOh, I gotcha! No worries. :)
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear your thoughts on when you think the turning point in the storyline would be where Hermione would need to make her decision to leave the Wizarding World or stay. Would you consider that point to be the end of The Goblet of Fire, when Voldemort rises back to power? That makes sense to me.
ReplyDeleteYet the decision point could also be the scene in Deathly Hallows, Part 1 when Hermione uses the memory charm on her parents. What a powerful scene.
Oof, it's been awhile since I've read the books but structurally speaking I'd probably pin it at the end of the 6th book, when it's made clear that the trio is not going back to Hogwarts. It's one thing to live in a dangerous Wizarding World when it's under the protection of Dumbledore and Hogwarts, but another entirely when those two safety nets are eliminated. Once Dumbledore is gone, their world becomes significantly less safe, and I think the thought of fleeing to the Muggle World could certainly present itself then, in reaction to that.
ReplyDeleteI love, love, love that Steve Kloves chose to include the memory charm scene in the movie. It's only referenced peripherally in the books (thanks, Harry's POV) but it's SUCH a wonderful scene because regardless of WHEN Hermione made the decision, this is certainly the moment where she cements it. After that, there's no turning back.
I agree, to an extent. The problem is that Hermione isn't really socially adept, especially when concerning her friends, and she never grew out of her book 1 mentality. Her falling back on her knowledge becomes irritating when she would be better served just admitting that she doesn't know - which seems physically incapable for her to do. This sort of overlaps with your H/Hr post, but Hermione's personality completely overshadows both Harry and Ron. Hermione doesn't love Ron, but he's the only person aside from Harry that actually talks to her. Her constant need to demonstrate that she is correct would kill any real relationship with anyone else.
ReplyDeleteGranted that the last two books were terrible, but were Harry written as actually having a backbone and thoughts for himself, he'd have told Hermione to shove it after her comments at Dumbledore's funeral, or at least told her, "yeah, well i was right about malfoy, and that seems a bit more important in the long run." Actually, the entirety of book 6 was Hermione failing to notice obvious clues that she would have previously put together and the entirety of book 7 was the trio systematically catching every possible break for 500 pages. On a somewhat related note, house elves are a plot hole large enough to drive a semi trailer through, and you'd think with her dedication to knowing everything about everything and S.P.E.W., book 7 should have been over before it even started. Hermione may have been a fucking badass and champ, but the last two books destroyed her character and tainted my memory.
Hermione is one of my favorite characters in the HP books, and agree that she's badass, but would have to disagree that she's better onscreen. For this, I'd like to reference to one of your more recent posts: "Strong Females as Characters Onscreen". They just changed a lot about Hermione's character in the movie: her sense of humor, her wardrobe, and they gave her some of the lines intended for other characters. I just couldn't relate to her onscreen character at all.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with this article. Plus, you didn't mention her saving the three of them once again...inside the vault. Blows up a wall, jumps on a dragon while yelling "come on" She's a badass and then some.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with this article. Plus, you didn't mention her saving the three of them once again...inside the vault. Blows up a wall, jumps on a dragon while yelling "come on" She's a badass and then some.
ReplyDelete