Romance novels are unappealing to me because they create every character to be perfect. These flawless humans are lovely, but they make for a boring, unrealistic read because no one is like that. I begrudgingly decided to read the Anne of Green Gables books because I am a good Canadian and those are Canadian books. I ended up falling in love with how L.M. Montgomery wrote Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe's romance.
First of all, Montgomery does the age old "boy teases girl because he likes her." This works because it is true and it sets up the story of their love: imperfection leads to a perfectly imperfect love. Anne detests Gilbert and refuses to like him from this point forward; only engaging with him when it came to academic competition. Anne was too proud to admit that at some point she started liking Gilbert and because of that she almost lost him.
At some point Anne takes multiple marriage proposals, all of which she declines. The only one she accepts is the one she always wanted, but never expected to get a second chance at, the one from Gilbert. Pride and youth already tried to end their romance, but yet they found each other and finally made it...except Gilbert still had three years of medical school. After all that time though, it was a nothing wait for them.
Most of the marriages in Anne of Green Gables are marriages of convenience. Girls have to get married so they marry the first nice boy they meet. Anne and Gilbert's marriage is the exact opposite of that. Anne is the most inconvenient girl for Gilbert to marry and yet he keeps on trying to get her until she matures enough to see that he cares about her and loves her, as she does to him.
Even in their marriage, they are not portrayed as always happy. At the end of Anne of Ingleside, Anne is terribly jealous because Gilbert is distracted by what she thinks is a former flame and is ignoring her own emotional turmoil. And then she thinks he has forgotten their anniversary and completely does not care about what she wears when they go out. Turns out a sick patient was causing him so much stress that he was not himself and he had noticed all the little things Anne had tried to do for him but stopped because he was ignoring them. Instead of acting like everything was happy all the time in a marriage, Montgomery portrayed the idea that it isn't, but love wins.
Anne of Green Gables is a somewhat flawed series, some books are superfluous and some characters are quite shallow. But the bones of the book are a strong-minded woman who is allowed to remain who she is in a restrictive environment and a man who loves her because of that, not in spite of it. Montgomery's bravery in writing the characters as flawed people instead of perfect humans. In doing so, she wrote near perfect characters who have a near perfect love story.
Tuesday 28 July 2015
Friday 17 July 2015
Love, Loyalty, and Harry Potter
I finally re-read Harry Potter after first reading them when I was no older than 14. At the time the books were good to me, but the actual meaning in them; the mature themes in them were lost. The writing carries the last three books for younger people. The writing is strong enough to mean something even then, but to get the themes of the books, love and loyalty always winning, you have to have a more mature understanding of what is valued.
Harry's longing for his parents is a common part of the books. He misses them greatly, especially in times of trouble. The longing is aided by his need for love. Harry can love though and that love is what makes him unique. Because he can feel love, Voldemort cannot touch him. Dumbledore says that often, but J.K. Rowling makes love a much bigger theme in the books than being about just Lily Potter's love for Harry.
There is love everywhere you look in the series. In the second book Harry and Ron go into the Chamber of Secrets to save Ginny. In the third book Sirius risked his life to see his Godson in person. Harry repays him by saving him from the Dementors. In the fourth book McGonagall fights to get Harry out of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Sirius makes sure Harry is alright by checking in on him and risking being caught again to make sure Harry is not hurt. The fifth book Harry loves Sirius so much that he leaves the safety of Hogwarts to go save him from a place he is not even at. Sirius loves Harry enough to go into the Ministry of Magic to save him and ends up dying. The fifth book is also when Dumbledore explains how love saved him (along with other information pertaining to Voldemort) and Harry starts to understand what magic protected him that night in Godric's Hollow. The seventh book features the Battle of Hogwarts where Tonks came to help Lupin (her husband) fight, Percy rejoined his family and then reacted like someone who still loved his family when his brother was killed and Molly Weasley killed Bellatrix Lestrange because she was fighting her daughter. Narcissa Malfoy even helped Harry deceive Voldemort and regain himself so he could kill him. All so she could see her son.
The best example of love though is Professor Snape and why he is no longer on Voldemort's side. Snape knew Lily before she went to Hogwarts and Lily was kind to him when few were. Snape loved Lily, she loved James. When Snape knew that they were next and Voldemort was going to kill them and Harry, he went to Dumbledore. He left Voldemort because his love of Lily was too strong. Dumbledore knew Snape would not turn on him, but he needed Snape to play both sides. Snape being a double agent was a risky thing that came from love.
Aside from love there is also the theme of loyalty. The character that best shows this loyalty is Neville Longbottom. From the first book on Neville is a someone who always tries to do the right thing. He stands up to his friends when they go to break rules. He masters defence spells against dark magic so he can fight alongside Harry. He goes to the Ministry to fight. He starts up an underground resistance when Snape is headmaster and he continues to fight until the end. Neville is loyal to Harry, to Dumbledore and is a sign of all the good in the world. Although not a prominent early on, from book five on Luna Lovegood becomes another loyal friend of Harry's, always up for a fight even with the odds not in their favour.
Harry Potter is a Young Adult series, but Rowling manages to talk about the intense theme of love as not something between two young people, but in the sense of family and how love will prevail when all seems lost. Rowling explores a common theme, love, but in a way that is rarely explored for young people: familial love. She then sprinkles in loyalty to show that love and loyalty and nothing else can beat evil.
Harry's longing for his parents is a common part of the books. He misses them greatly, especially in times of trouble. The longing is aided by his need for love. Harry can love though and that love is what makes him unique. Because he can feel love, Voldemort cannot touch him. Dumbledore says that often, but J.K. Rowling makes love a much bigger theme in the books than being about just Lily Potter's love for Harry.
There is love everywhere you look in the series. In the second book Harry and Ron go into the Chamber of Secrets to save Ginny. In the third book Sirius risked his life to see his Godson in person. Harry repays him by saving him from the Dementors. In the fourth book McGonagall fights to get Harry out of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Sirius makes sure Harry is alright by checking in on him and risking being caught again to make sure Harry is not hurt. The fifth book Harry loves Sirius so much that he leaves the safety of Hogwarts to go save him from a place he is not even at. Sirius loves Harry enough to go into the Ministry of Magic to save him and ends up dying. The fifth book is also when Dumbledore explains how love saved him (along with other information pertaining to Voldemort) and Harry starts to understand what magic protected him that night in Godric's Hollow. The seventh book features the Battle of Hogwarts where Tonks came to help Lupin (her husband) fight, Percy rejoined his family and then reacted like someone who still loved his family when his brother was killed and Molly Weasley killed Bellatrix Lestrange because she was fighting her daughter. Narcissa Malfoy even helped Harry deceive Voldemort and regain himself so he could kill him. All so she could see her son.
The best example of love though is Professor Snape and why he is no longer on Voldemort's side. Snape knew Lily before she went to Hogwarts and Lily was kind to him when few were. Snape loved Lily, she loved James. When Snape knew that they were next and Voldemort was going to kill them and Harry, he went to Dumbledore. He left Voldemort because his love of Lily was too strong. Dumbledore knew Snape would not turn on him, but he needed Snape to play both sides. Snape being a double agent was a risky thing that came from love.
Aside from love there is also the theme of loyalty. The character that best shows this loyalty is Neville Longbottom. From the first book on Neville is a someone who always tries to do the right thing. He stands up to his friends when they go to break rules. He masters defence spells against dark magic so he can fight alongside Harry. He goes to the Ministry to fight. He starts up an underground resistance when Snape is headmaster and he continues to fight until the end. Neville is loyal to Harry, to Dumbledore and is a sign of all the good in the world. Although not a prominent early on, from book five on Luna Lovegood becomes another loyal friend of Harry's, always up for a fight even with the odds not in their favour.
Harry Potter is a Young Adult series, but Rowling manages to talk about the intense theme of love as not something between two young people, but in the sense of family and how love will prevail when all seems lost. Rowling explores a common theme, love, but in a way that is rarely explored for young people: familial love. She then sprinkles in loyalty to show that love and loyalty and nothing else can beat evil.
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