Cedric seems to have that rare quality in the extremely handsome of being plain NICE. Furthermore, he seems to value kindness and loyalty and fair play ... or he'd never have been sorted into Hufflepuff. I guess I see those less as virtues he HAS rather than as virtues he WANTS to have ... things he values and admires. To quote Aristotle: "Be what you would seem." (Or more prosaically, "Make it happen.") Whether or not he always is those things, he wants to BE those things, and will actively strive towards them.
And for me, that's why I've come to love him. He knows which end is up. Despite his beauty, his (apparent) intelligence, and a (for a teenaged boy, normal) competitive spirit, he wants -- most of all -- to be regarded as good, and kind. There are worse things to be called, in life. :-) He isn't distracted by the illusory. I could see Cedric as one of those rare beautiful people who could genuinely fall in love with someone who ISN'T beautiful ... because he can see past the surface. He 'Sees Real,' even if he can still be prey to his own vanities. :-)
Had he lived, I think Cedric would have become an obvious choice for the D.A., and would have taken his own kind of revenge on Umbridge ... but probably without landing himself in detention. ;>
And that's the OTHER side of Cedric, which I find equally interesting -- and saw depicted in that courtyard scene. The thing about people who want to be nice (IME) is that they can have a 'shadow' side ... cowardice. I see all the houses as having virtues and vices, and poor Hufflepuff's virtues are sometimes interpreted as vices when they shouldn't be ... but that doesn't mean they don't have REAL vices. But human ones -- maybe the most human of all. I see Cedric as having two main 'failings' -- he doesn't want to disappoint (even if it means NOT being true to himself), and he doesn't want to make people mad at him (even if it means showing two faces occasionally).
And I find that terribly interesting, as well as what keeps him from being insufferable. :-D He's a genuinely nice guy with some very real faults, very human faults.
When I saw the courtyard scene, in the film, I rather liked it because it showed those two human failings. He's talented, he's pretty, he's an only child and beloved by his parents, and he needs to be loved. He fears letting people down ... being less. He courts attention sometimes. Not because he's vain, but because he's afraid -- afraid that if he fails to deliver on the expectations of others, he won't be loved ... and then where will he be? He's never NOT been loved, and that's a terribly, terribly frightening prospect for him -- potential rejection.
Poor Cedric doesn't think the world owes him a living -- he thinks he owes the world (his friends and family). Or else.
(And I doubt his parents ever tried to make him feel that their love was conditional. He just absorbed that assumption at some point along the way.)
This is in stark contrast to Harry, who grew up despised by his aunt and uncle and found strength beyond that, which Cedric didn't need to. I see Cedric as a foil for Harry (as much as Voldemort is a foil). Cedric had everything Harry didn't, so I see Cedric on one end of the spectrum of possibility, and Voldemort on the other. Harry lies somewhere in between.
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And for me, that's why I've come to love him. He knows which end is up. Despite his beauty, his (apparent) intelligence, and a (for a teenaged boy, normal) competitive spirit, he wants -- most of all -- to be regarded as good, and kind. There are worse things to be called, in life. :-) He isn't distracted by the illusory. I could see Cedric as one of those rare beautiful people who could genuinely fall in love with someone who ISN'T beautiful ... because he can see past the surface. He 'Sees Real,' even if he can still be prey to his own vanities. :-)
Had he lived, I think Cedric would have become an obvious choice for the D.A., and would have taken his own kind of revenge on Umbridge ... but probably without landing himself in detention. ;>
And that's the OTHER side of Cedric, which I find equally interesting -- and saw depicted in that courtyard scene. The thing about people who want to be nice (IME) is that they can have a 'shadow' side ... cowardice. I see all the houses as having virtues and vices, and poor Hufflepuff's virtues are sometimes interpreted as vices when they shouldn't be ... but that doesn't mean they don't have REAL vices. But human ones -- maybe the most human of all. I see Cedric as having two main 'failings' -- he doesn't want to disappoint (even if it means NOT being true to himself), and he doesn't want to make people mad at him (even if it means showing two faces occasionally).
And I find that terribly interesting, as well as what keeps him from being insufferable. :-D He's a genuinely nice guy with some very real faults, very human faults.
When I saw the courtyard scene, in the film, I rather liked it because it showed those two human failings. He's talented, he's pretty, he's an only child and beloved by his parents, and he needs to be loved. He fears letting people down ... being less. He courts attention sometimes. Not because he's vain, but because he's afraid -- afraid that if he fails to deliver on the expectations of others, he won't be loved ... and then where will he be? He's never NOT been loved, and that's a terribly, terribly frightening prospect for him -- potential rejection.
Poor Cedric doesn't think the world owes him a living -- he thinks he owes the world (his friends and family). Or else.
(And I doubt his parents ever tried to make him feel that their love was conditional. He just absorbed that assumption at some point along the way.)
This is in stark contrast to Harry, who grew up despised by his aunt and uncle and found strength beyond that, which Cedric didn't need to. I see Cedric as a foil for Harry (as much as Voldemort is a foil). Cedric had everything Harry didn't, so I see Cedric on one end of the spectrum of possibility, and Voldemort on the other. Harry lies somewhere in between.