Hermione Granger & Me
Hello all! Hope your days are lovely.
This isn't really going to be like my normal blog posts. It's more my thoughts concerning one particular character- Hermione Granger. If you don't know who that is, I have two questions for you.
1. Have you been living under a rock for roughly 15 years?
2. Seriously how do you not know the brightest witch of our age?
Well, on with it!
I first started reading J. K. Rowling's epic saga in third grade. I was already a fairly advanced reader and devoured books like mad, but those books I read so voraciously that I had books 1-6 read in less than 4 months. (Book 7 didn't come out until after 4th grade.) Not bad for a 9-year-old. These books were like drugs to my young mind. I had never read anything like them before. Somehow, an entire world fit inside the pages and then leapt into my head. And there was one character that has always stuck with me, through half a dozen more readings of the series. Hermione Granger.
To understand my connection with and fervent appreciation for Hermione, you should know something about me. Throughout my school career, I was always the smart girl. At one point, some of my friends referred to me as a human dictionary. And I sort of was. While many of my other classmates were concerned with video games and sports and dolls, I read. And read. And read. I would read anything I could get my hands on- magazines, fiction, non-fiction, tourism pamphlets- you name it, I read it. I loved learning new facts and ideas, and sharing them with those around me, sometimes to their great chagrin. Admittedly, sometimes I sounded like a know-it-all. (Okay, maybe a lot of the time.) And eventually, I noticed that most people don't necessarily like the gal with all the answers, at least when she's showing everyone else up. So I kept my hand down. Talked less in class. Tried to contain my frustration when my peers couldn't answer what I thought was a simple question. I didn't want to be known as the goody-two-shoes know-it-all. I wanted to be cool.
Then I found Hermione Granger. She was just like me- she devoured books like candy and always had the answer. But she was never afraid to raise her hand. She didn't care if people thought she was a know-it-all. She used her knowledge to help her friends. I adored her.
Hermione was what I wanted to be: somehow a major character in her own story and the smartest person in the room. Her knowledge and ability to use it at all time was her biggest asset, not a fault. In her, for the first time, I saw that being "the smart girl" and being "cool" weren't necessarily mutually exclusive. Yes, Hermione wasn't the queen of the Hogwarts scene, but she was important. She affected the whole world and people respected her. She was a protagonist in her own right, even without Harry. Her brain was her weapon of choice. The world around her bent to her will.
Hermione Granger was one of the first girls in literature that I encountered in whom I saw myself truly reflected in. She was book smart, but sometimes struggled with the whole "people" concept. Her tendency to correct others' mistakes made her appear haughty or rude, but she was just trying to help. I related to this immensely. Can you imagine what it's like to suddenly realize there are other people in the world who think the same thoughts as you? That have the same struggles and worries? It was like a light suddenly came on, and showed me that I wasn't quite as alone as I thought.
Hermione's boggart was failing of her classes. I've read theories that this was more than it seemed- she wasn't only afraid of failure, but also of losing everything she had gained. Failing her exams would have meant that she would have to leave the amazing world that she had found at Hogwarts, and going back to being ordinary. How could a girl like Hermione just go back to being the daughter of dentists? She would lose her friends, her school, and the place where she felt like she finally belonged.
I admit, that over the years, I have used my smarts as a crutch. This may sound a bit like an oxymoron. Isn't intelligence an asset? Yes. But when you use intelligence as a cover, use books to hide behind, it can hinder. I avoided interaction tucked behind the safety of enormous tomes, and sat at the front of the class so I didn't see the smirks when I answered a bit too quickly. I was terrified of being labeled as "uncool" or a "nerd" and tried to stuff that part of me away. But Hermione Granger showed me that being smart was cool. If you were smart, you could change the world. (Or even help save it.)
So all in all, Hermione Granger is one of my favorite characters in all of modern literature. She's not only brave and caring and wonderful- she's also quick as a whip and the brightest witch of her age. And maybe thanks to her, maybe other young, clever girls and I can save the world too.
This isn't really going to be like my normal blog posts. It's more my thoughts concerning one particular character- Hermione Granger. If you don't know who that is, I have two questions for you.
1. Have you been living under a rock for roughly 15 years?
2. Seriously how do you not know the brightest witch of our age?
Well, on with it!
I first started reading J. K. Rowling's epic saga in third grade. I was already a fairly advanced reader and devoured books like mad, but those books I read so voraciously that I had books 1-6 read in less than 4 months. (Book 7 didn't come out until after 4th grade.) Not bad for a 9-year-old. These books were like drugs to my young mind. I had never read anything like them before. Somehow, an entire world fit inside the pages and then leapt into my head. And there was one character that has always stuck with me, through half a dozen more readings of the series. Hermione Granger.
To understand my connection with and fervent appreciation for Hermione, you should know something about me. Throughout my school career, I was always the smart girl. At one point, some of my friends referred to me as a human dictionary. And I sort of was. While many of my other classmates were concerned with video games and sports and dolls, I read. And read. And read. I would read anything I could get my hands on- magazines, fiction, non-fiction, tourism pamphlets- you name it, I read it. I loved learning new facts and ideas, and sharing them with those around me, sometimes to their great chagrin. Admittedly, sometimes I sounded like a know-it-all. (Okay, maybe a lot of the time.) And eventually, I noticed that most people don't necessarily like the gal with all the answers, at least when she's showing everyone else up. So I kept my hand down. Talked less in class. Tried to contain my frustration when my peers couldn't answer what I thought was a simple question. I didn't want to be known as the goody-two-shoes know-it-all. I wanted to be cool.
Then I found Hermione Granger. She was just like me- she devoured books like candy and always had the answer. But she was never afraid to raise her hand. She didn't care if people thought she was a know-it-all. She used her knowledge to help her friends. I adored her.
Hermione was what I wanted to be: somehow a major character in her own story and the smartest person in the room. Her knowledge and ability to use it at all time was her biggest asset, not a fault. In her, for the first time, I saw that being "the smart girl" and being "cool" weren't necessarily mutually exclusive. Yes, Hermione wasn't the queen of the Hogwarts scene, but she was important. She affected the whole world and people respected her. She was a protagonist in her own right, even without Harry. Her brain was her weapon of choice. The world around her bent to her will.
Hermione Granger was one of the first girls in literature that I encountered in whom I saw myself truly reflected in. She was book smart, but sometimes struggled with the whole "people" concept. Her tendency to correct others' mistakes made her appear haughty or rude, but she was just trying to help. I related to this immensely. Can you imagine what it's like to suddenly realize there are other people in the world who think the same thoughts as you? That have the same struggles and worries? It was like a light suddenly came on, and showed me that I wasn't quite as alone as I thought.
Hermione's boggart was failing of her classes. I've read theories that this was more than it seemed- she wasn't only afraid of failure, but also of losing everything she had gained. Failing her exams would have meant that she would have to leave the amazing world that she had found at Hogwarts, and going back to being ordinary. How could a girl like Hermione just go back to being the daughter of dentists? She would lose her friends, her school, and the place where she felt like she finally belonged.
I admit, that over the years, I have used my smarts as a crutch. This may sound a bit like an oxymoron. Isn't intelligence an asset? Yes. But when you use intelligence as a cover, use books to hide behind, it can hinder. I avoided interaction tucked behind the safety of enormous tomes, and sat at the front of the class so I didn't see the smirks when I answered a bit too quickly. I was terrified of being labeled as "uncool" or a "nerd" and tried to stuff that part of me away. But Hermione Granger showed me that being smart was cool. If you were smart, you could change the world. (Or even help save it.)
So all in all, Hermione Granger is one of my favorite characters in all of modern literature. She's not only brave and caring and wonderful- she's also quick as a whip and the brightest witch of her age. And maybe thanks to her, maybe other young, clever girls and I can save the world too.
Jayme,
ReplyDeleteSo your first year of university is almost finished!! Grandpa and I are so proud of you!
Love, Gram