Blog Post #2, Neville's Confidence

While reading the Harry Potter series I have found that Rowling often uses the minor characters for many themes in the book. I found that one of the major themes of the books was the acceptance of self. This theme develops in many of the characters through the course of the book but with Neville Longbottom the theme is most important to his character development. When Neville starts off in book 1 he is presented as a forgetful near squib. He is often used as comic relief or his clumsy antics are used to propel the story forward. Neville is not the most talented of wizards so almost immediately he is used as the brunt of jokes from slytherins and is nearly tortured by Snape during potions classes. Whenever Neville is being chided about his abilities he performs very poorly. Harry, Ron and Hermione all like Neville for who he is, and it is around them that Neville always performs best and acts the bravest. In book one he stands up to Harry, Ron and Hermione to prevent them from causing more trouble. In book five when Dumbledore’s Army is formed Neville begins to perform nearly as well as anyone else because he is around friends who know and accept him. At the end of the book Neville has enough confidence in himself to willingly go toe to toe against death eaters with his friends. In the sixth book you learn that Neville is exceptional at Herbology and while it isn’t directly referenced in the book, Neville has to confront his grandmother about who he is and what he is good at after he discusses classes with mcgonogal. Nevilles confidence and friendship makes him a valuable ally to Harry in the sixth and seventh book. At the end of the sixth book Neville once again stands with his friends against the death eaters once again, and even though the slytherins and snape constantly tell him otherwise, Neville is obviously a good enough wizard to stand against fully trained death eaters. Nevilles story really comes together and exemplifies just how good of a wizard he is when he is confident, in the seventh book. But no spoilers.