Dissin' the Slyths / Sacrificing Character to Cleverness

[marinafrants]

No: HPFGUIDX 38464

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "lupinesque" <lupinesque at y...> wrote:
> >I also can't just discard my knowledge of the real world as 
> irrelevant
> >to my reading of the books.  Fantasy and science fiction writers 
do
> >sometimes deliberately construct totally alien societies where 
> nothing
> >that we know applies, and readers must put aside all their human
> >preconceptions in order to immerse themselves in the story.  But I
> >don't think JKR intended that any more than she intended for us to
> >condemn Dumbledore.
> 
> Marina, I've been catching up with this entire thread, and your 
> patient determination has been touching.  I agree with you, and I 
> would add this:  we cannot set aside our own morality as a lens 
> through which to read without sacrificing the opportunity to learn 
> about that morality, have it challenged, etc.--in short, without 
> losing one of the main benefits of reading a work of fiction that 
has 
> a moral intent.

Thank you.  I hope I haven't been coming across as a crank on the 
subject.  I'm a big fan of Dumbledore most of the time; I think he 
does great both as a Headmaster for Hogwarts and as a guide/mentor 
figure for Harry.  And I'm well aware that I'm assigning much more 
meaning and importance to that leaving feast scene than JKR 
intended.  But I do firmly believe that the overall HP story arc 
would benefit from a more 3-dimensional exploration of Slytherin 
House and its relationship to the rest of the WW, and until that 
happens, I grab my complexity where I can.  Snape is great, but 
setting him up as the token complex Slytherin just isn't enough for 
me.

Anyway, I think I've blathered about this enough to merit an 
acronym, so I hereby declare my views to be S.E.N.T.I.M.E.N.T.A.L. 
C.R.A.P.: Slytherins Expect Nasty Treatment In Most Environments, 
Need Teaching About Loyaltry, Courage, Rationality And Patience.

<Snip other relevant examples of clever but out-of-character bits>

 I try to excuse each one--CS's ending has a sad undercurrent 
> of true bitterness, as Harry really believes the Dursleys would 
> happily attend his funeral, and PA's is charged with the anger and 
> power of someone who finally has an adult backing him up--but I'm 
a 
> lot happier when I get to the end of GF, where things are allowed 
to 
> just end and not go "bang."  I wouldn't say the other three, even 
PS, 
> are out of character for Harry in the way that Dumbledore's Cup 
Switch 
> is out of character for him, but PS's ending does leave the reader 
> with a final impression of Harry that is a bit out of whack with 
the 
> characteristics that have been most important through the 
preceding 
> pages.  It's a little twist for humor's sake and twists too far 
for me 
> to find it all that funny.

Yeah, I know what you mean.  It didn't bother me much because by 
then I felt I knew enough about Harry to be sure that he'll behave 
decently no matter what he might say, but I got the same feeling you 
did, that JKR was reaching for a clever line.  Then again, in my own 
writing experience, the last paragraph of a story is always the 
hardest one to write, so I'm willing to cut other authors a break on 
it. :-)


> 
> P.S. I LOVED your Tangled Up in Floo filk, Marina, and look 
forward to 
> showing it to said dh, who also loves Dylan, just as soon as he 
reads 
> CS and can appreciate it.

Thanks!  Your Designated Hitter has great taste in music. :-)

Marina
rusalka at ix.netcom.com