During the fifth book, “The
Order of the Phoenix”, J.K. Rowling portrays femininity in a different way than
she did in her previous books. When I
looked at previous books I saw the female characters as more of sidekicks and
under the power of a male figure. When
looking at the fifth book, I saw the strong male figures sort of stepping down
and the female characters more shown into light.
In the first book, “The
Sorcerer’s Stone”, I saw Hermione as just the girl who had all the brains and
more of a spoken intelligence. She seemed more of Harry’s book of
knowledge. Harry needed help, and
Hermione always had the trick to do it.
Harry just performed the ability.
It’s not until the fifth book when you really see her true magical
ability and intelligence. Hermione came up with Dumbledore’s Army, which was
the first time she ever suggested breaking school rules, and suggested that
going to find Sirius Black was a bad idea.
She also showed her true magical abilities.
Professor McGonnagall would be
another female to look at in the fifth book.
The books before the fifth book just showed her as a teacher who was
under on of the greatest wizards alive, Professor Dumbledore, in the fifth book
we see Dumbledore starting to lose control over Hogwarts due to Professor
Umbridge, and McGonnagall is using her own will to fight back against
Umbridge. The students see McGonnagall
before as this inflexible person, but when Umbridge is around it’s like the students
can’t wait to see what McGonnagall will do.
It’s not until the fifth book
that these female characters especially a couple of biggest roles start having
more power. In the first couple of
books, it shows the Rowling gave these female characters more of a stereotypical
role where they were under a male figure, but it seems that the fifth book
brought into light the true potentials of our female characters.
I strongly agree with your post. I was always confused why a female author would choose to make women "side-kicks" throughout her series. And it wasn't until the 5th book that JK Rowling really gave them a chance to prove themselves. I think it is interesting to observe not just the women on the good side but also the women on the bad side. In the 5th book we learn a lot more about the death eaters and their role in Voldemort’s pursuits. Take Bellatrix Lestrange for example; while she is an evil character, I was always impressed by her conviction and power. She is an example of yet another character that fights for what she believes in (however terrible it may be) and is much more powerful than some of the boys on her side.
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