[HPforGrownups] single parents in HP

[Eileen]

No: HPFGUIDX 55323

 --- stillginger1966 <stillginger1966 at yahoo.com>
wrote: 
> Most of the parents are not mentioned at all, but of
> those who are, 
> they all seem to be married.
> 
> I confess I don't know current British statistics
> for single heads of 
> households, but as JKR was a single mother when she
> wrote these, I 
> kind of find it odd.

I have to admit that I've always found it odd that
people find it odd. Traditional societies don't have
the same rate of separation/divorce or out-of-wedlock
births as does modern society. That's a fact. If JKR
had written a wizarding society with a high break-up
rate, I would probably not have bothered reading past
PS/SS. It would have suggested that she was trying to
teach her audience a "lesson,"(TM) and not paying
attention to universe coherence.

However, I think JKR is interested in family break-up.
It has always interested me that there are very few
intact families in the Potterverse. The Riddles, the
Crouches, the Potters, the Longbottoms, and now the
Diggorys have all come apart at the seams. I think
this is only the beginning. 

We have four intact centre-stage families, btw, the
Weasleys, the Malfoys, the Dursleys, and the Grangers.
Well, I don't know about the Grangers. They might be
allowed to survive the series, given that although
Hermione is a main character, her family doesn't seem
to be part of the story. The Malfoys, though, I don't
see as making it through intact, and I would be very
surprised if the Weasleys don't take casualties.
Shake-ups with the Dursleys are expected. 

Eileen

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