Looks aren't everything! (was:Re: Sirius / Severus)
serious_schwartz
serious_schwartz at yahoo.com
Tue Dec 9 18:40:12 UTC 2003
No: HPFGUIDX 86821
--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67"
<justcarol67 at y...> wrote:
> Actually, the memory is not revealed from Snape's point of
view. Harry
> is not inside Snape's head, as he's inside Snake/Voldemort's
in his
> dream of trying to kill Arthur Weasley. He sees Snape from the
> outside, sitting at his desk writing with his nose almost
pressed
> against the parchment and again, hanging upside down with
the
> Marauders laughing and taunting him. Similarly, when he's
inside
> Dumbldore's memories, he sees Dumbledore himself (and
sits beside
> him). He himself is actually inside the memory of the event just
as it
> happened. In other words, a Pensieve memory is much more
objective
> than a normal Muggle memory, which is necessarily subjective
and
> incomplete because we remember only what we perceived,
distorted by
> our own interpretation of the events. There is no interpretation
in
> the Pensieve memory itself. It's only what was actually said
and done
> from the viewpoint of a nonparticipant onlooker. Any
interpretation
> must be done by the onlooker, that is, Harry, not by the
objectively
> rendered event itself.
>
> Carol, who hopes this is clear and is glad that you're learning
to
> like Snape
Serious:
I understand your view point and those of the others who have
written that the pensieve records and plays back a more
objective view of events rather than just a colored memory. But I
think JK is deliberately leaving some wiggle room with this plot
device. Either because she wants to tease us, use it as an
*a-ha!* moment at some point, or because she wants to be able
to twist it for its most useful purpose in the future.
I do still believe it is more of a memory than an objective viewing
of events. Yes, Dumbledore says that the pensieve lets him
stand back view events in their total contexts, but most of us
learn to do that with our memories as we get older. I'm pushing
40, and I know that I am much more able to see things from all
points of view than I used to be. Besides, is the mind really
capable of taking a snapshot of events and not letting your
thoughts and feelings filter it? That's sort of what pensieve
means: thought filter. Although that also stands as an argument
for it filtering out emotion... okay, better sign off now that I've
written myself into a corner.
Serious_Schwartz, who has just found another reason to reread
all the books.
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