Father figures revisited

[bennyhillsangel at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 27643

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Caius Marcius" <coriolan at w...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., Amanda Lewanski <editor at t...> wrote:
> 
> but the discussions of
> > father figure got interesting. 
> 
> We should not omit Sirius Black, the man legally and morally 
> appointed to stand *in loco parentis* 
> 
> Harry's nightmare at the beginning of GoF prompts him to turn to 
> Sirius for support, but he is not yet trusting enough to tell him 
> everything that is on his mind. I've always been moved by 
> Sirius' "fire-side chat" with Harry in GoF, Chap 19
> 
> Never mind me, how are you?" said Sirius seriously.
> "I'm -"  For a second, Harry tried to say "fine" - but he couldn't 
do 
> it.  Before he could stop himself, he was talking more than he'd 
> talked in days - about how no one believed he hadn't entered the 
> tournament of his own free will, how Rita Skeeter had lied about 
him 
> in the Daily Prophet, how he couldn't walk down a corridor without 
> being sneered at - and about Ron, Ron not believing him, Ron's 
> jealousy...
> ". . . and now Hagrid's just shown me what's coming in the first 
> task, and it's dragons, Sirius, and I'm a goner," he finished 
> desperately.
> 
> Sirius does here what any good father should be for his son - he 
> serves as a sounding board, a shoulder to cry on, an encouragement 
to 
> rally his inner strength to meet the challenge.
> 
>   - CMC

I think your assessment is right on the mark. I have a few different 
ideas about Sirius, but I'm not sure if I'm just reading too much 
into the character. I do tend to overanalyze.

What I was thinking, though, is that Sirius Black was painted as a 
sort of philosophical, even ethical, lesson. He is the 
personification of the much-maligned Absentee Father/Deadbeat Dad 
because of the length of time he was out of Harry's life, and his 
status as on-the-lam. Nevertheless, he is also a beautifully 
sympathetic character. This is so for several reasons: first, he is 
innocent of wrongdoing, yet willing to face unknown amounts of 
torment in Azkaban, followed by a life on the run, all without 
complaint. Second, he takes considerable risks in the beginning of 
PoA (glimpsing Harry before he [Harry] gets on the Knight Bus, just 
to see him, covertly treating Harry to the Firebolt, etc.) out of 
what can only be construed as an almost paternal love for Harry. 
Third, he offers Harry a home with him, and when this cannot be 
because of the circumstances at hand, he is always on guard, willing 
to risk it all by rushing to Hogwarts the second Harry needs him. All 
of these add up to a pretty sympathetic, even semi-heroic, character!

For these reasons, I think that Sirius' character is a way of 
dispelling the myth of the heartless Deadbeat Dad, and asserting that 
the Absentee Father might still be a morally good person who truly is 
capable of loving his child[ren]. Painful, unavoidable life 
circumstances, rather than selfishness or immaturity, can make an 
unwilling Absentee Father out of someone, and to judge such a person 
as just another Deadbeat Dad would be a painful generalization. 

Then again, maybe it's just another one of the many ways JKR goes 
about championing the underdog. She's good at that, too. I don't 
know. Just my $.02.

-Benny Hill's Angel.