Deus ex Machina

[Joy M]

No: HPFGUIDX 27126

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., caliburncy at y... wrote:
> Reviewing Possible Instances of "Deus Ex Machina": The Luke Verdict
> 
> with your host, Professor . . . Luke
> 
>                                 *****

Great lecture, Professor Luke.  You're MUCH more interesting than 
Professor Binns!  I would like to show my appreciation of your 
considerable talents by picking a few nits, if you don't mind (and, 
in fact, even if you do.)

> 1) The hero must be in a situation of Immediate, Impending Doom 
(tm). 
>  Not just danger, and not just in the relatively near future, but a 
> situation in which, if even a couple more seconds were allowed to 
> elapse without intervention, our hero would perish.
> 
> 2) The hero must not be able to save himself from the 
aforementioned 
> Immediate, Impending Doom (tm), because the situation he has found 
> himself in is so dire, that it would be beyond his maximum capacity 
to 
> do so.
> 
> 3) The salvation must ultimately come by an external force or third 
> party that, up until the moment of intervention, was in no way 
> involved in the immediate conflict.
> 

> Case 1--The centaur's rescue of Harry from the Forbidden Forest.
> 
> Criterion 1: Not fulfilled.  Harry, though undoubtedly in danger 
from 
> Quirrel/Voldemort on a slightly elongated timespan, was not at that 
> precise moment in danger of death at the hands of Voldemort.  He 
was 
> saved long before Voldemort had even begun to turn on him.
>

Hmmm...You say Harry wasn't in a situation of Immediate, Impending 
Doom (tm)?  I'd say it was a matter of interpretation.  Allow me to 
quote, Chapter 15 of SS:

"The hooded figure raised its head and looked right at Harry -- 
unicorn blood was dribbling down its front.  It got to its feet and 
came swiftly toward Harry -- he couldn't move for fear."

"Then a pain like he'd never felt before pierced his head; it was as 
though his scar were on fire.  Half blinded, he staggered back ward.  
he heard hooves behind him, galloping..." (and is rescued)

That's not Immediate, Impending Doom (tm)??? Are you sure?

> Case 3--The Flying Ford Anglia's rescue of Harry, Ron and Fang from 
> the acromantulae
> The Luke Verdict: A very good case of "deus ex machina" to my mind, 
in 
> its clear devotion to fulfilling criterion 3 to such a stunning 
degree 
> that it strikes the reader as particularly contrived, solely to 
save 
> the hero from an unwinnable situation by use of an otherwise rather 
> irrelevant "character".

It's a little rude to call one of our esteemed moderators 
an "otherwise rather irrelevant 'character'." <vbg>

> Case 6--Professor Lupin rescuing Harry from the dementor on the 
train

> Criterion 3: Not fulfilled.  Since there was no existing conflict 
> between Harry and the dementor (conflict requires effort on both 
sides 
> and Harry has done nothing to fight the dementor) means that Lupin 
was 
> starting his own conflict with the dementor not intervening into 
> Harry's.  And Lupin was already present anyway, so he was only 
acting 
> out of his maximum capacity and assisting as one would expect.
> 
And, in fact, it has been argued here a number of times that Lupin 
was probably on the train for the express purpose of guarding Harry, 
so it's hardly a case of deus ex machina when he does so.

> 
> (obnoxious electronic bell clangs loudly)
> 
> Alright, class, that's sufficient for today (and the rest of your 
> lives, no doubt).  Be sure to have your essays on "your least 
favorite 
> way that Luke's posts are excessively verbose and exceedingly 
> pointless" on my desk at 10 A.M. tomorrow!

Hey, "exceedingly pointless" is the name of the game around here.  
Seriously though, Luke, that was the best class I've been in since 
the time I took macroeconomics and one of the students fell asleep 
during class and fell off his chair onto the floor with a loud thud.

--Joywitch, the eternal student