HP Fathers and Father-Figures -- was "George Lucas Parallels"

[LenMachine at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 30467

Hello everyone,

Another delurker joins the stampede. I hope I don't scare anyone; I'd 
hate to think I was the reason for anyone thinking this list went 
downhill. :-)

Joshua Dyal wrote:

<snip>
> Now that you bring it up, though, JKR has specifically said she 
does 
> not want to follow Star Wars too much in one sense: she claims that 
> making Harry related to Voldemort would be too Star Wars and 
> therefore not desirable.  
<snip>

Well, Harry is not going to find out that LV is his dad, but it's 
certain that the theme of the father-son relationship largely shapes 
the entire plot of the HP series, as it did with the first (second ? 
now I'm confused -- because it came first, but it's really the 
second -- oh well) Star Wars trilogy. The most significant ones that 
come to my mind are the relationships between Harry and the father 
he's gradually getting to know, Tom Marvolo Riddle and his Muggle 
father, and the junior and senior Barty Crouches. While there are 
indeed intact father-son relationships like the Weasleys and the 
Malfoys, it's the fathers who were in some way absent -- they died, 
abandoned their sons, or were emotionally distant -- and their sons 
who shape the HP stories.

(There are also a number of father figure characters -- Dumbledore, 
Mr. Weasley, even Uncle Vernon. It would be an interesting 
debate/discussion as to whether these characters seem to come to the 
forefront more than the mother-figures do. While Harry turns to Mrs. 
Weasley at his most emotionally desperate moment in GoF, he arguably 
spends more "plot-time" with say, Dumbledore than McGonagall. Heck, 
he even gets yelled at more by Uncle Vernon than by Aunt Petunia.)

I'm probably not contributing anything new here, but this line of 
discussion did provoke a certain interest -- I think it's 
significant that JKR is wrote these books as a single mother. (Please 
note that I am neither condemning single mothers nor arguing in favor 
of the "nuclear family.") After all, most children's authors write 
their stories for their own children. Given the number of fathers and 
father-figures populate her books, is JKR passing on an important 
message to her daughter about what a father really is ?

Personally, I think the message may be that fathers, though they may 
be absent, can leave a legacy that can inexorably shape your life. 
How that legacy shapes you is determined by the choices you make -- 
after all, what principally distinguishes Harry Potter from Tom 
Riddle, was his choice to pursue goodness rather than power. (Not too 
much different from Star Wars. :-) ) The choice to reject or condemn 
your father's legacy can lead to danger. Witness, for example, Tom's 
fervent pursuit of the Dark Arts (and denunciation of those who are 
anything less than "pureblood," despite his heritage -- very Hitler-
esque) or Barty Crouch, Jr.'s loyalty to LV which made LV's return 
possible.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. :-)


Emily A. Chen