Harry and Sirius (was: Please pass the tissues )

[susanbones2003]

No: HPFGUIDX 69920

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "marinafrants" <rusalka at i...> 
wrote:
>
> 
> It seems to me there's been a great scramble to retroactively 
> redefine Sirius' character in order to make to make his death 
appear 
> somehow deserved, or at least warranted.  All of a sudden, every 
> caring, supportive and self-sacrificing thing Sirius has ever done 
> gets shrugged off as unimportant, while every rash or ill-
considered 
> thing is magnified out of all proportion and presented as the only 
> basis for judging him.  I'm sure Sirius often draws parallels 
> between Harry and James; so does everyone else who knew James.  
> Lupin's done it, Hagrid's done it, Dumbledore's done it, Snape 
> hardly ever stops doing it.  It will always be a part of Harry's 
> relationship with any adult who knew his parents.  But it's not the 
> sum total of any of these relationships.
> 
> Marina
> rusalka at i...

I said in my earlier post that I thought Sirius' change in character 
in OOP was abrupt. I never said he deserved to die because of the 
changes he exhibited. It's very complicated and subtle, the link 
between the changes in him and his death. How he changed made it much 
easier to imagine him taking deadly risks. But some of this is red 
herring material planted not just by JKR's narration but also by 
Dumbledore's retelling of events. Harry responds(rightly)in anger at 
the thought that something Sirius did/didn't do made his death 
possible or even inevitable. I certainly don't have all the answers 
but I know it's possible to find things that Sirius did troubling and 
still love and mourn him.
Jennifer