Patterns between the books as a series. OoP not as out of place?

[tigerpatronus]

No: HPFGUIDX 68361

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Kirstini" <kirst_inn at y...> 
wrote:
<SNIP> In GoF, as 
> Ebony's post notes, we get the beginnings of Hormonal!Harry. 
There's 
> darkness, death and endless, endless detail, all of which are 
> present in OotP. If we view the first three novels as a trilogy 
> which sets the scene, establishes all the major characters and most 
> of the major social and physical aspects of a magical world, then 
> GoF and OotP, set apart from the other three by their sheer size as 
> much as anything else, constitute a more relaxed exploration of the 
> extra details of that world, and of the characters which inhabit 
> them. <SNIP> Voldemort becomes a character in his own right, we are 
> introduced to the organised evil of the Death Eaters and the wrongs 
> of bureaucracy, and to the capacity of the Wizarding World for 
> unfairness and enslavement (House Elves, Pensieve trials). Yes, 
many > of these themes had been set up by the other three, <SNIP>

I think the progression of the books is also represents the way that 
the world enlarges as you become an adult. As a kid, your world is 
limited to your family, friends, activities that your parents allow 
you to participate in, and school. When you enter high school (in the 
US, about 13 in 9th grade or 14 in 10th) your world increases in 
scope. You have to make decisions that will impact the rest of your 
life, like what new experiences to try (and we all know what I mean), 
and whether to take accelerated or A-level classes, which 
universities to apply to (Home State or Outofstate U or U of Party or 
Ivy?), etc. And you begin to notice the rest of the world, perhaps 
take trips with school groups to other places, and begin to take your 
place as an adult in the world and the world changes you, too. 

(OT:The first time a prof at Univ actually engaged in overt racism 
against a friend of mine who was black, I was dumb-shocked. I'd never 
seen anything like it. I didn't believe it existed, really. Racism 
had never impinged on my happy little multicultural, interracial 
world before. I'm 1/4 Apache, but I can pass. Everyone I grew up with 
was a half that or a quarter this, the Tiger Woods generation imbued 
with hybrid vigor.)

HP's decision to take the trip to the MoM is one of his first 
decisions. He decided that they had to go and go now to rescue SB 
from the DE. Previously, he'd reacted to events. For example, in GoF, 
he decided to stand up to LV and die as a man, but only after Moody 
and LV kidnapped him via the Portkey-Cup. 

JKR is describing this increase in the scope of life during the path 
to adulthood, and it necessitates more pages as the journey becomes 
more complex. I think the Potter epic is as important, in its own 
way, as the Rabbit series by Updike that describes the progression 
through adulthood. That's why the books aren't "kids' books" anymore. 
Potter, et al, aren't kids anymore. 

I also find it interesting that many "adult" books include characters 
that, although 20 or 30 something chronologically, are stuck in a 
delayed adolescence and act like children. *The Corrections* comes 
roaring to mind. It's not a book to be tossed aside lightly -- it 
should be thrown with great force. Every character in there is as 
selfish and self-involved as a typical 13 year old who just 
discovered their own mortality (apologies to any teens here, but 
y'all seem more mature than the average, too.) The HPs, on the other 
hand, are about characters young in age but mature in experience, 
having fought evil most dire (LV) and banal (houseelf enslavement, 
teachers with childish streaks) longer than most characters in adult 
novels. 


TK -- TigerPatronus