Blog Post 2: Neville Longbottom

Over the course of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling has explored many different themes, evolving throughout the series.   Two themes of which are historical trauma affecting the characters as well as coming of age.  One character in particular has stood out to me, especially in books 1-5, that being Neville Longbottom.  When considering coming of age and going back to book one, The Sorcerer’s Stone, Neville was first introduced on the Hogwarts Express.  He was timid, forgetful and clumsy, leaving everyone to believe that Neville was of little importance and was not one to ever be taken seriously.  Neville was always falling into the background, in the shadows of Harry, Ron and Hermione.  However as he progressed throughout the book, we come to find Neville, that timid boy from the train, showing bravery and courage by standing up to his friends, trying to stop Harry and the others from sneaking out and finding the sorcerer’s stone.   This was a giant step for Neville, showing the first sign of his evolving character.

           

Neville next takes a giant step up to the plate in book 5, Order of the Phoenix.  It is in this book that we discover how Neville’s parents were tortured into insanity, in large part by Bellatrix Lestrange.  Learning of Neville’s historical trauma, the audience can now understand why Neville started out as such a timid character, as well as learning why and where his sudden bursts of courage and bravery stem from.  All falls into place and we understand more as to why Neville was so keen to jump right in and was adamant about learning defense.  In book 5 Neville grows tremendously as a character and by joining Dumbledore’s Army, he finds his purpose and self-confidence. 

            
Neville Longbottom was the first character to stand out to me throughout the first books in the series and changed the way I felt about these themes in the series.  Neville’s transformation evolved my thinking of how not only are the main three characters in the books affected by these topics, but all of the characters are.  Neville starts off in the shadows of Harry, off to the side, and grows into such a heroic role and it was fun to see how coming of age and historical trauma affected his character in such a great, drastic way.