Analytical - Lily/James: Parallelism?

There are similarities between James/Lily and Harry/Ginny, and they extend beyond the physical. I'll go through that first, however, and elaborate on my own [separate] analysis later.

JKR mentioned in interview(s?) that this is an important detail. What could it mean? That he 'sees' things her way? Remember that Lily is a Muggle Born - which means that her upbringing was probably quite different from James, who is (as far I know) a Pureblood. As a result, Harry is a 'half-breed', though he was raised by his Aunt and Uncle. One implication of this is that Harry sees the Wizarding world much in the way his mother did - everything is essentially new to him. This could mean that he is more objective, or unbiased towards the attitudes and traditions immersed in Wizarding culture.

Lily defended Snape against Jame's taunting in OoTP - or rather, in a recollection described in the book - actions which Harry deemed 'decent'. After witnessing these memories in Snape's pensieve, he is disturbed by Jame's personality (as Snape remembers him, anyway. The objectiveness of Pensieves is unclear - do they record events as they occur or as they seemed to the individual? Harry's reaction implies that the former is the case, but we don't really know) From one angle, we can say that Lily is more accepting of those different from her - that she's willing to speak up when someone is being bullied, ie, Snape, whereas James is more likely to pick on him. Of course, this does NOT mean that James is a rotten, mean bully - after all, he hated Snape, and Snape hated him, it's understandable for a fifteen year old boy. Either way, Harry's childhood gave him a set of experiences that perhaps allowed him to develop a deeper empathy for those in a similar situation, and can be viewed as a similarity between himself and his mother.

We have been told that Hagrid possesses warm, black eyes, however, and Lily has luminous green eyes, and Ginny has bright, brown eyes. Notice a pattern? They are all characters who impart a certain emotional 'value' to Harry. Hagrid is a parental figure - perhaps the first parental figure Harry finds from the start of the series, and is also a symbol of strength and comfort. Visiting Hagrid's hut is one method Harry employs to cope with difficult times in his life. Lily, on the other hand, sacrificed herself to save Harry's life, and is therefore a saviour, protective figure in his eyes. What about Ginny? How does she provide protection or comfort?

Well, looking back into OoTP, we can see two examples of Ginny giving Harry a sense of comfort. Firstly, there is the scene in 12 Grimmauld Place, where Ginny shames Harry into his senses, so to speak. ("Lucky you.") Secondly, there is the library chocolate scene, in which Harry actually confides to Ginny a personal desire - he wants to talk to Sirius - and Ginny helps him by saying that having grown up with the twins, she thinks anything is possible. It may be small things, but it's little details like this that count. On a longer timescale, Harry may grow to appreciate Ginny's understanding, empathic attention.

There are also similarities between Ginny and James - both purebloods, both raised in the Wizarding world and familiar with the rules of the culture. Personality wise, James and Ginny aren't all that similar, but they share the same courage personifed by Gryffindors, and a sense of humour that Harry and Lily have to a lesser degree. Somehow I imagine James made Lily laugh more than the other way around, and there have been moments in Canon where Ginny catches Harry's eye and they share a private, unspoken joke.

Don't forget that they share a crush on another individual that is unreciprocated (at least for a while, in Jame's case). This is a switching of roles, almost - James likes Lily, but Ginny's the one with the crush on Harry. Admittedly, the relationship between Harry and Ginny is a little less volatile than Lily/James, but it's a similarity nonetheless.

So we have H/G and L/J, both Pureblood/Muggleborn relationships, all Gryffindors with a rather startling physical resemblance. Whether or not you believe that the parallel is deliberate, or merely coincidence is your choice, but I'm rather swayed by the amount of similarities involved.

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