Neville's Coming of Age

In the Harry Potter series so far, there has been several of the characters who have followed the theme of coming of age. One character in particular is Neville Longbottom. At the start of the series, Neville was a clumsy, awkward, and shy boy but was very loyal to those around him. Rowling made the reader to believe that Neville would never be the brave hero who saved the day. However, in the first novel, we get a glimpse of Neville becoming more confident and that he has the ability to stand on his own two feet. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione go to sneak out of the Gryffindor common room to save the sorcerer’s stone, Nevil stands up to them and says he will fight if they attempt to leave. Seeing this more brave and confident side of Neville makes the reader believe he has the potential to become the hero one day.

                Most of Neville’s life, he was raised by his grandmother. The reason for his parents’ absence from his life is because they were tortured and driven insane by death eaters. Living with his grandmother has never been easy for Neville. She continually told him he was never good enough and never had any talent or potential to become someone. In the fifth book, Neville proves to himself and also to the reader that his grandmother was wrong about him. He is constantly focused and determined to improve his spells and curses so he is able to avenge his parents. This shows the reader that Neville does not let others bring him down and that he strives to become the best he can be. Neville is an excellent character that portrays the theme of coming of age. We have seen him grow in confidence more and more with each book.