Complexity of Characters -- Percy -- Survival of Characters

[Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer]

No: HPFGUIDX 20065

Hi --

Responding to some posts/threads that have been sitting in my inbox for
days now ....

Craig wrote:

> Yes, there is a convenience in the shorthand of lumping Voldemort,Pettigrew, Quirrell, Lockhart, the Malfoys, Fudge, Crouch Jr., and
> even Snape under the rubric of evil, but it does a disservice to understanding the complexity of who they actually are.
>
Well-said!  We've talked about this off & on again over time, but it is
always of interest to me.  I really don't see the characters (or not the
pivotal ones) as archetypes or stereotypes.  I think there's so much
more richness & complexity to them than that.  I think many of them are
already multi-layered and complex and many more still have that
potential.  There are very few (if any) humans who qualify as pure white
or pure black on the continuum.  I have faith that JKR's characters are
no less flawed.  I think Mike (the Goat) makes some good points that so
far the characters really can be sorted into good guys or bad guys.
But, I hope that there will be more ambiguity and complexity in the
final analysis than that.

PERCY --

Wow!  Great post from Milz with speculation about how Percy's
relationship with Crouch Sr. might affect him in Book 5.  It never
really occurred to me that he might be framed for Crouch's
disappearance/murder.  Hmm.... now I'm worried for poor Percy on a whole
new level.

SURVIVAL OF THE CHARACTERS --

Ebony wrote:

> Whatever JKR writes is fine with me.  Of course, many of us have said that
> we will disagree with her if she chooses certain outcomes (parallels were
> drawn to LMA and other writers), but that is our prerogative as readers.
> But it won't stop this H/Her from loving the remaining Harry Potter books,
> which involve *so much more than shipping*.  In fact, romance is the least
> of *my* concerns--I'm more worried about the characters I like *surviving*
> canon!
>
I agree completely!  I won't *like* it if there's a Ron/Hermione wedding
at the end of Book 7, but I'll still enjoy the series all the same.  Or,
I like to think I will still feel as passionately about it.  I'm
confident JKR can make me happy with just about any way she intends to
go with all this.  Like Ebony, I am more concerned with whether my
favorite characters will still be alive at the end of the series than
with who they'll be paired off with.  Of course, I have a strong theory
that Ron won't survive the series, so maybe that influences the fact
that I'm not so worried about a Ron/Hermione wedding at the end of the
series?  <g>

Penny



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