OOP: Sirius thoughts ...

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 67618

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "minetourjunkie" 
<sarah_wendling at h...> wrote:
> The space for the spoilers ...
> 
> 
> Pippin said (with some snipping):
> > > Sirius never had a sense of purpose beyond catching up 
with Peter 
> > > and fighting Voldemort. 
> 
> Marianne replied: 
> > That may very well be true, but I think you could cut the man 
maybe 
> > an inch of slack in that he's spent most of the past 14 years 
in 
> > isolation from other humans. He hasn't had much of a 
chance to reconnect to wizard life outside of the narrow focus of 
concentrating on Voldemort and Peter.  But, we'll never know as  
that story arc has been cut.<<

I'm not saying Sirius deserved to die because of his flaws, 
anymore than I would say that  drunk drivers deserve to cause 
accidents. Saying that Sirius's flaws led to his death is not 
saying that he deserved to die on  account of them.

>Sarah said:
> First off, I think Sirius did have other senses of purpose (can 
you pluralize that?): protecting Harry for starters.  
<snip>

> Again, I'm not sure his life was organized around the fight 
against  evil.  A good deal of his motivation seems to come from 
guilt over  James' death and a need to protect Harry at all costs 
to make up for his earlier mistakes.  And he seems to genuinely 
like the boy.  I  wouldn't blame Sirius for his death either - I
mean, 
if your  kid/surrogate kid was in mortal peril, are you gonna sit 
around and  hope for the best?  Especially if you were a good 
fighter?  I don't  think wanting to protect Harry is a flaw. <

That is where we disagree, I think. Harry, though still legally a 
child, does not need protection any more.  Sirius spends most of 
OOP feeling sorry for himself because he can't take care of 
Harry, even though he knows in his heart Harry doesn't need to 
be looked after or protected any more. That's what I mean about 
losing his sense of purpose. There was work for Sirius to do in 
the house--making it fit to live in and taking care of Kreacher--but 
he refused to do it.

The original poster said that Sirius needed to die because Harry 
needed an additional reason to hate Voldemort. I think it would 
be closer to say Harry needed an additional reason to hate 
Snape, but that's not the only reason Sirius had to go.

At the beginning of the story Harry thinks his godfather's attitude 
is kinda cool.  IMO, JKR wants us to realize that's a problem for 
Harry.   Having the attitude lead to the godfather's death is a lot 
more effective and dramatic than having the godfather say, "Gee, 
I've been making everybody around me miserable. I guess 
acting arrogant and superior, holding a lifelong grudge, and 
refusing to obey orders even when I know they're for my own 
good and other peoples' isn't the way to go." 

Sirius didn't get a chance to solve his attitude problems because 
the reader has to realize that Harry's life is at stake if he doesn't 
solve his--or develops new ones. Harry hasn't only got to defeat 
Voldemort, he has to do it while remaining humble, letting go of 
grudges and considering other peoples' welfare. If he doesn't do 
that, he may well  become an agent of evil even if Voldemort 
himself is defeated.

Pippin