Godparents & Legal Guardians; Literary Analysis

[Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer]

No: HPFGUIDX 17287

Hi --

I've been finishing updating my FAQs whilst waiting for baby ... like
Amanda, I suddenly have a frightening number of posts I wanted to
respond to .... so here goes:

catherine at cator-manor.demon.co.uk wrote:

> I'm a Brit, and I'm piping up!  I think that you're basically right.
> Godparents aren't legal guardians, but if they agree to be
> godparents, there is an implication that if something were to happen
> to the actual parents they would take a more active role in the
> child's upbringing - this would often mean taking on legal
> responsibility.  Without getting too nitpicky about it, it would
> normally have to be mentioned in a will etc.

I was actually trying to say something different.  I think Sirius was
probably Harry's legal guardian (yes, set out in a will -- that's how it
works over here too).  Sirius says something to the effect (no PoA
handy) that he was to look after Harry in the event the Potters died.
This sounds like a legal guardian role.

In a religious sense, a godparent is typically responsible for a child's
spiritual upbringing as you say, both in the event both parents die and
in the event that the parents are doing what the godparent feels should
be done (taking them to church often enough).  That's the theory in many
religious denominations anyway (not that too many godparents are going
to step in & be sure that a child goes to church over a parent's
objections but anyway).  Point is: godparents may be the same as the
legal guardian(s) appointed in the will(s) of the parents, but just as
often as not, they are different individuals.  They serve different
purposes.  There's a good chance my husband & I would name members of
our church as our baby's godparents.  But, we would probably name a
family member as legal guardian in our wills.

So ... my real question is whether the term "godfather" in the UK has
specific *religious* significance or might it be a "leftover" term
historically that gets used interchangeably with "guardian" (which
sounds more formal & legalistic to most people)?  I think Sirius is
likely Harry's legal guardian, but I question whether he is in fact
actually named a godfather in a religious ceremony.  We heard from many
British members in the past that religion is not so much a part of
mainstream life & culture in the UK as it has been in the past.  So, I
just wondered if the term "godfather" was really synonmous with guardian
for all intents & purposes in the UK.  I don't think I expressed this
well earlier this week.  :--)


> BTW Penny - I meant to post on this earlier, but I totally agreed
> with your posts on literary analysis etc.  <snip> For me, a book has
> an
> appeal when it is written so subtley that a variety of
> interpretations are possible. One can look at things contextually,
> but I prefer to look at the text alone, and I enjoy the fact that
> with each reading my feelings about the books and the interpretation
> I put on certain scenes can change, either minutely or dramatically.
> I prefer to think that someone like JKR knows her characters so well
> that many of the words she uses (particularly the adverbs which seem
> to cause the most controversy) are a mixture of design, and
> subconsciously knowing what her character is feeling during a
> particular scene.
>

Yes!  I like the fact that we can all argue and debate over the meaning
of so much of these books.  My point all along has been there is no one
single interpretation of the characters, the plot or anything else in
these books.  Thanks also to Lisa for her support on the Hermione issues
(I agree so much with your view that Hermione was trying to defend Ron
rather than put more divisiveness between Harry and Ron).

Penny


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