Dehumanizing Language--Sirius' Prank

[dicentra_spectabilis_alba]

No: HPFGUIDX 34390

> On the subject of Granting Slack To Characters We Like, I wrote:
> 
> > For an example of this phenomenon, I might cite my own vehement 
> > condemnation of Moody for using nasty language to describe 
> > Karkaroff in the Pensieve scene of GoF, while noting my own utter 
> > lack of dismay over Sirius' use of similarly unkind and degrading 
> > language to refer to Pettigrew in PoA.  
> 
> Eileen said:
> 
> > That's a funny example, b/c I find it hard to stomach Sirius's 
> > attitude in that scene, even though I can offer up a million 
> > justifications for it. There's something about its dehumanization
> > of Pettigrew that just sickens me. 
> 
> Well, yes.  It *is* sickening.  It has to be, I think, for the scene 
> to work.  All of the adult characters allow themselves to become
> distressingly dehumanized there; IMO, that's precisely what makes 
> that entire sequence so very effective.

[snip Elkins's horrific summer-camp episode, which I wouldn't forget,
either] 

I've got to pop my two sickles in here, folks.  One thing we're
forgetting is that Sirius and Lupin (and the rest of the WW, except
Harry's generation) went through an all-out war.  When your friends
and family are being betrayed, tortured, and murdered, the stakes
change dramatically.  It's life or death you have to worry about, not
whether the language you're using is "dehumanizing."  Peter
effectively murdered James and Lily, and Sirius's and Remus's emotions
about that incident aren't going to fade with time--you don't just
"get over" something like that.  In their minds, killing Peter wasn't
revenge so much as it was the elimination of a very real threat in
their midst--a continuation of the war.  It's very hard for those of
us who've never had war in our streets to understand, but someone who
knows what it's like to see your friends and family killed by the
enemy isn't going to judge Sirius and Remus harshly at all, just as
Elkins doesn't judge Snape for still being angry about the 20-year-old
prank.

It's easy to be disturbed by what happened in the Shrieking Shack (I
think that was the point in many ways) but I don't know how justified
we are in "having a problem" with Sirius or Remus or Severus, for that
matter, because we *don't really know* what they've been through.  

As for the hatred between Sirius and Severus, remember that they've
shared more than boyhood rivalry at Hogwarts--they were on opposite
sides of the war.  Sirius knows Severus supported Voldemort, and it's
entirely possible that he hates him for being on the side that killed
his friend and who knows who else that Sirius loved.  If you were a
family member or friend of someone who was lost on 9/11, could you
have friendly feelings for an Al Qaida defector?  Ever?

JKR means to deal with the extremely difficult emotions and
consequences that result from death and murder.  She's pulled the kid
gloves off.  So should we.

--Dicentra, who's also done despicable things in the past and
therefore forgives Sirius