[HPforGrownups] Re: House Elves, namely Winky

[Morag Traynor]

No: HPFGUIDX 16981

claire wrote:
>--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Morag Traynor" <moragt at h...> wrote:
> > Yeah, but he sure paid the price didn't he?   Crouch jr tonelessly
>relates:
> > "I killed my father[...]When everyone was gone, I Transfigured my
>father's
> > body.  He became a bone...I buried it[...]"  Whereas I can't help
>seeing
> > Voldemort as a slightly camp figure, with his hackneyed world-
>domination
> > plans (what I gather is referred to as OES, or Evil Overlord
>Syndrome), I
> > found this passage had a bleak, true horror about it.  And Winky's
>grief
> > makes her, as someone (apologies for lack of credit) rightly said,
>the most
> > tragic character in the book.
<snip previous discussion about Winky

>I cried at two parts in Gof, at the end when Harry seems so empty and
>when Crouch jr says "I Transfigured my father's body...". I hated him
>so much for that. I wanted to shout at Mrs crouch and say "What have
>you done? You stupid woman!" (and words that i wouldn't post on this
>list). I just couldn't believe that someone could kill their own
>father so easily.

I so agree.  I think GoF contains some of JKR's best, and worst, writing.  
Worst, because I just didn't buy the whole tournament idea - I know people 
have ingeniously filled in the plot holes - and done it very well, too - but 
JKR should have done that.  Best because of the real depth of the ending - 
she doesn't pull any punches here.  I particularly liked her treatment of 
Amos Diggory - a rather unsympathetic, small-minded character, but she 
doesn't have to spell out what Cedric's death has done to him - we feel it.  
I think the real horror about Crouch's death, for me anyway, and as I think 
you're getting at, was the utter, utter contempt even for his body.  It's 
interesting that Harry was determined to bring Cedric's body back - I think 
there's an interview where JKR refers to this, citing how Achilles(?), in 
the Trojan war, risks everything to bring back the corpse of his friend.  I 
also feel how alone Harry is at the end - he's really gone beyond Ron and 
Hermione, and if he died, though his friends would be sad, no-one would 
grieve for him the way the Diggorys do for their son.  So, some pretty heavy 
stuff along with the fun.  What extraordinary books these are.
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