A little ADMIN reminder -- Literature Classifications -- SHIPping

[Cindy C.]

No: HPFGUIDX 29495

Penny wrote:

> I don't intend to refute each of Cindy's "no consequences" 
examples, but 
> this one I can't resist:
> 
<snip Cindy's example of Harry and Krum in the forest> 
> Sirius yells at him later (through owl post though as I recall).  
And, 
> he gets drawn into a conflict that leaves him more worried than 
ever 
> (discovery of stunned!Krum & the dead Crouch).
> 

Hmmm.  Well, my phrasing on this wasn't the best ("loose ends" is all 
wrong to convey the idea I had in mind), but let me try to clarify.  
We've talked a lot about how Harry "gets away" with rule-breaking.  
Some people have even indicated that this makes Harry a poor role 
model, etc.

I think that to the extent Harry isn't punished or is allowed to 
flout rules, this is just consistent with something commonly seen in 
children's stories:  the kids know best, adults are impotent, and 
when the kids flout the rules, everything will work out for the 
best.  That Harry rarely faces concrete consequences for rule-
breaking is consistent with the "target audience" being primarily 
children rather than adults, IMHO.  

I've whined on the list before about how I like PoA and GoF better 
than the first two books for this reason: in the first two books, the 
kids are solving a mystery that the adults are apparently not 
competent to handle.  That does remind me of children's fiction, and 
I have trouble cheering for children to defy adult authority.

I know what anyone patient enough to get this far in this post must 
be thinking:  didn't I just argue two weeks ago that Harry is not a 
dangerous character, so how can I now say he doesn't face 
consequences for his behavior?  The answer is that this issue 
(unpunished rule-breaking) doesn't make Harry a bad seed who should 
never darken the door of our nation's bookstores.  It just means to 
me that the kids, not the adults, are the heros, kids will appreciate 
that more than adults, so the books are children's fiction.


Finally, Penny, I'd say that I think you are likely to prevail in the 
end.  By the time the series is complete, the score will probably be:

PS/SS = children's.
CoS = children's.
PoA = hybrid.
GoF = adult.
Books 5-7 = adult.

Congratulations in advance!

Cindy (who thinks Penny does pretty darn good cross-examination)