Happy endings? A good thing?

[c_voth312]

No: HPFGUIDX 46222

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Melody" <Malady579 at h...> wrote:
> Yes, these are children's books.  BUT, Rowling has made perfectly
> clear that she intend to write evil for what it is...pure evil.  She
> has never wanted to pussyfoot around and shield young eyes from the
> harsh reality of decision-making.  If there is a point that parents'
> feel their child should be kept from reading the series until the 
day
> they are ready, then Rowling will still write for that day.
 
I think we see the telling moment in Rowling's overall tone for the 
series at the end of GoF: everyone's going home on the Hogwarts 
Express.  Cedric is dead, Voldemort is back, Fudge is being a *$)@!, 
and things look pretty bleak in general.  Then, to add insult to 
injury (literally), Malfoy and company come striding into the 
compartment and start gloating.  Harry and his friend stand up 
together and hurl a barrage of hexes at their tormentors, knocking 
them sensless and leaving them with some pretty embarrassing physical 
effects.  This strikes me as very strong forshadowing: things are 
bad, they're going get worse, and sometimes the wrong people are 
going to die...but in the long run, friendship, loyalty, and courage 
will win out.  I see a lot of "realistic but positive" in the series, 
and I expect that's the way the remainder of it will play out.

> I don't see the virtue of "protecting" a character just because the
> reader likes them.  It creates a false pretense to be wrongly
> paralleled to reality.  Besides, sometimes the hero wins in death.
> There is more to a hero than just surviving.  A martyr is a hero.
> Valiant, brave, idealistic.  While, yes, you want them to live,
> quietly you know that this ending is somehow resonating deeper with
> such accord that it was truly the only way.
> 

Agreed.  There is a difference between "sad" and "depressing."  I 
expect Rowling will have us in tears, but she won't rip our hearts 
out and stomp on them.  At least I hope not...I hate it when authors 
do that.

~Christi