Though he is not too major of a character
throughout the books, he is consistently present and constantly changing. Neville
Longbottom definitely plays an important role in the development of the plot
and the themes throughout the series. Neville is a great example of a coming of
age story. He is introduced to us in the beginning of the series as a pathetic
character in frantic search of his missing toad. We quickly learn that he is
not any good in his classes (except for herbology), he is forgetful, he is
clumsy, and he is awkward. He comes off as a coward but for some reason is
placed in Gryffindor. Looking back on the series, this is very clear foreshadowing
for who Neville is going to become.
Even in just the
first book we see a huge change happening in Neville. He has the courage to
stand up to his friends which, as Dumbledore points out, is even harder than
standing up to your enemies. This is just the beginning for Neville.
There is even a
time when Neville gets in to a fight with Crabbe and Goyle during a Quidditch match. He gets beaten up pretty bad but he at
least had the courage to stand up to them. There are also a couple of other
times throughout the series when Neville gets harassed and tries to stand up
for himself. More often then not though, there are people there to hold him
back.
This change in
Neville is a drastic one compared to the Neville we see at the beginning of the
series and is just one small example of the character development throughout
the series.
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